Kagome Doll
by Hairann
Summary: My responses to Hairann's Weird-ified Challenge. See my post on the forums for details /forum/29-challenges/38616-hairanns-weird-ified-challenge. I do not own any songs used, Weird Al does. Demon Park sequel added, see chapter 8. Last one-shot added; now complete!
1. Kagome Doll

Disclaimer: Inuyasha and all of it's characters are property of the brilliant Takahashi-sama and I claim no ownership of them.

* * *

Title: Kagome Doll  
Author: Hairann

Theme: Hairann's Weird-ified Challenge: My girlfriend is inflatable  
Genre: Comedy

AU/CU: AU

Rating: High T

Warnings: Very slight innuendo.  
Word Count: 885

Summary: Sesshoumaru receives a very strange birthday gift.

* * *

Sesshoumaru stared uninterested at the boxes that covered the end of his desk, seeing no point in opening them as he already knew what both the presents from his parents were. Every year it was the same, his father would get him a book on history and his mother gave him a hideous sweater, that he would only wear until he reached the end of the block and would then stuff it in his backpack. He knew she meant well, but she had horrible taste in clothing for him.

As he sat on the edge of his bed, glaring at the unsurprising presents, he complained, "What a great birthday this is turning out to be. Who in the world decides to go on a second honeymoon on their son's 18th birthday? Even Inuyasha was out the door at the first rays of the sun this morning." Thinking about his brother, he remembered that there had strangely been three presents where there has always only been two.

As he stared at the odd, crudely wrapped gift, which in fact had been covered with a paper bag, much like Inuyasha's school books, he couldn't help but wonder what had caused his brother to give him something this year. They had just had another of their numerous fights a few days ago and as far as he knew, Inuyasha was still pissed at him for his insults directed at his girlfriend. So the idea that he had left a present for Sesshoumaru seemed like a foreign concept, unless of course it was a booby trap that was going to blow up in his face.

Sighing, his curiosity getting the better of him, Sesshoumaru carefully picked up the gift, careful not to jar it, in case it did hold explosive materials, and gently set it on the bed next to him. Ever so slowly, he began to unwrap it, finding an unmarked box beneath it. Raising a single elegant eyebrow as he debated whether or not he should continue, he stared down at the box as he thought of the chances of Inuyasha really being able to get his hands on something dangerous.

Deciding any explosions would have no doubt blown up in Inuyasha's face, he sliced through the tape, holding the box closed, with the tip of his sharpened nail and slowly pulled open the lid. The contents only served to confuse him further, as they appeared to be a blob of soft plastic. His eyebrow disappearing into his hairline, Sesshoumaru reached out and grabbed onto a small pull tab that he could see sticking out from the top of, whatever it was.

Yanking on the tab, he leaped back when the 'gift' jumped into the air and inflated like a life raft, before landing silently on the bed in front of him. Seeing it wasn't going to move any further, he carefully made his way back over to it and found himself wondering if his brother had messed up his own practical joke. As he looked it over, he could easily tell that it was in fact a blow up doll and while he had heard about them in passing, he could not understand the point of having one that wasn't anatomically correct.

Ignoring the doll for now, he turned his attention back to the box she had come in and found two things in the bottom of it. The first was a pair of underwear and grabbing a pencil off of his desk, he carefully lifted it up, quickly discovering it was made out of candy. "Edible undies?" he questioned out loud to himself before tossing them away and picking up the paper that was still in the box. "Look in your closet," he read the note out loud.

"Who sends a creepy note like that with an inflatable doll?" Sesshoumaru wondered as he reread it, sighing when he realized he recognized the handwriting. "Inuyasha wrote this," he grumbled to himself as he stood, figuring Inuyasha was hiding in his closet waiting to take an embarrassed picture of him. 'Let us see who is the embarrassed one,' Sesshoumaru thought to himself as he slowly made his way over to the closet.

As he grabbed onto the handles, he prepared himself to beat his brother and threw the doors open, but instead of finding a laughing Inuyasha, he was assaulted by a dozen boxes as they fell out of the closet on top of him. "Damn it," he cursed as he tossed the boxes off of him from where he had landed on the floor and began plotting out his payback for Inuyasha. Wondering what exactly he had been hit with, Sesshoumaru picked up the first box and groaned when he saw the picture.

Glancing around at the rest of the boxes, he soon discovered they were all identical. Each one was one of the blow up dolls like the one laying forgotten on his bed. "Kagome doll," he read as he turned back to the box in his hands. "Never again be lonely, never again be dateless. The Kagome doll is the perfect girl to keep you warm on the long, cold night. Made in Taiwan." As he finished reading, Sesshoumaru groaned as he tossed the box aside. Inuyasha was going to pay for this. Dearly.


	2. Frequent Flyer

Disclaimer: Inuyasha and all of its characters are property of the brilliant Takahashi-sama and I claim no ownership of them.

* * *

Title: Frequent Flyer  
Author: Hairann

Theme: Hairann's Weird-ified Challenge: Airline Amy  
Genre: Comedy

AU/CU: AU

Rating: High T

Warnings: OOCness  
Word Count: 2669

Summary: A flight that will never be forgotten.

* * *

"The flight to Taiwan is now boarding at gate 35, please have your tickets and passports ready to be checked at the door," the intercom announced, pulling a woman's mind out of the trashy romance novel she had been reading while she waited the two hours her flight had been delayed since she had made it through the security area. Tossing the novel into her carry on, she pulled out what she had been instructed to and began making her way to the already growing line as people pushed their way into getting on the plane first.

It was something she would never understand, they had assigned seats, what was the point of rushing when it wasn't like they would be able to get better seats just by getting there first. Shaking her head at their antics, the woman calmly walked to the back of the line, thankful she was not toward the beginning where they were already starting to push each other. Fighting the urge to roll her umber eyes, she pulled the novel back out of her carry on and began to discreetly read, glancing up every so often to keep track of the line.

Slowly but surely, the line shrunk as more of the passengers were checked in and soon enough it was her turn. Glancing up at the woman behind the counter, her eyes took a quick sweep over her navy, blue uniform, before settling on her black, wire rimmed glasses adorned face with a smile. Holding up her ticket and passport, she waited patiently as the woman looked them over for a moment before turning her attention back to her. "Alright Miss Higurashi, you are in row 15, seat A. It is an emergency exit row, will you be able to handle it or would you need to switch seats?"

"No that's fine," Kagome assured her as she accepted back her passport and ticket stub, and began making her way down the long hallway that led to the plane. As she turned the corner, hoping to be finally arriving at the plane, she found a huge group of the passengers that had gone before her were still waiting in the hallway. Confused, Kagome stood on her tippy toes to see over their heads to find out what the hold up was and found a couple of airport employees asking people to check in bags that were too big for the overhead compartments.

Rolling her eyes again at how no one could seem to follow simple instructions, she waited as the line began to move slowly, her patience running thin with each passing minute. Eventually she was second in line and breathed a sigh of relief that she would be in her seat soon, only to overhear the woman in front of her arguing about whether or not her bag could fit in the bins. Foregoing courtesy, as the woman obviously didn't have any, Kagome walked around her, smiling at the employees as she passed. She heard the woman grumble in outrage about her cutting in front of her, but paid her little mind as she finally stepped up into the plane.

Turning the corner into the isle, Kagome went to look for her seat only to realize sitting down was still a long ways off. The isle was filled with people fighting to get the carry ons into the bins, rummaging through their bags and even a couple just standing there talking amongst themselves. Fighting the ever growing urge to scream, she began to 'politely' push her back toward the back, ignoring the other passengers' complaints about her pushiness, and quickly found her seat. Throwing her carry on into the bin, she sat down in her seat and opened her book, figuring it was going to be a while before they took off.

So lost in the story of the heroine, a young girl growing up on her father's cattle ranch in the 1800's, falling in love, or lust was more like it in her opinion, with the son of the rival ranch, she almost missed the stewardess coming over the intercom to begin the preflight announcements. Keeping her attention half on the safety procedures and half on her book, she continued reading until they got to the part about the emergency exit rows. Giving the stewardess her full attention now, in case something happened and she needed to know what to do, she watched as a steward began helping someone switch seats, apparently they were either unwilling or unable to assist in the case of an emergency.

As she watched, they moved on to how to correctly put on an oxygen mask, the steward demonstrating while she narrated. Deciding the rest of it didn't interest her, Kagome turned her full attention back to the novel, leaning back in her seat after making sure her seat belt was fastened and her tray table was in its 'full and upright' position. As Hannah, the heroine in her trashy romance novel, was just about to be caught in the barn with the rival's son, by her father, Kagome felt the plane begin heading down the runway and set the book aside as the vibrations made it all but impossible to read.

* * *

"Would you like some peanuts?" a deep voice inquired, startling Kagome from her reading and she glanced up to find the steward towering above her, a silver cart covered in small packets of peanuts and plastic and Styrofoam cups. Not having been able to get a good look at him earlier, Kagome gave the steward a quick once over. He had long silver hair was pulled into a loose pony tail over his shoulder, golden eyes gazed down at her patiently and a semi tight navy, blue uniform that accented his build nicely.

"Sure," Kagome decided, realizing she had been too busy staring at the rather handsome man to remember to answer him. "Could I get a cup of coffee too?" she requested after he had handed her a couple of packets and with a smile, he turned back to the cart and quickly prepared a cup for her. Grabbing a couple of sugars, creams and a stirer, he handed them all over to her, the gentle smile still adorning his face.

Seeing she wasn't going to ask for anything else, he continued on to the next row, slowly making his way down the isle. Kagome watched as he did, appreciating the view as he leaned over to speak softly with each passenger he came to. Ripping open the first bag, she began poping the peanuts into her mouth as she continued to watch him, careful to be discreet as she pretended to read her book. All too soon, in her opinion, he had finished his route and disappeared into the employees' area.

Sighing for losing sight of her eye candy, Kagome turned her attention to her novel, soon finding herself rereading the same sentence over and over, her mind still occupied with thoughts of the steward. Giving up on reading, she set her book aside and reached up to push the assistance button above her head. Crossing her fingers that the stewardess wouldn't be the one to respond, she felt herself grinning when the steward stepped into the isle and began making his way toward her. "Can I get a set of headphones so I can watch the movie?" she inquired sweetly as she gestured toward the large screen at the front of the isle, not caring that she had no idea what was currently playing.

"Of course," he told her with a gentle smile, his voice sending a shiver of pleasure down her spine, before turning and making his way back toward the front of the plane. She watched his retreating form, grinning when another passenger caught his attention, causing him to lean over to speak to him without disturbing the others. After a few moments, he continued on his way again, soon disappearing behind the curtain. Not wanting him to notice she was watching him when he returned, Kagome turned her attention to the movie screen at the front of the cabin.

Not recognizing the foreign film that was playing, she wondered if asking for a headset was really such a good idea. "Here you go," the deep voice returned, startling her from her daze as he held out the headphones to her, his ever present smile still shining. Nodding her head in thanks, as she returned the smile and took the offered headset, Kagome racked her brain for a plausible excuse to keep him there longer, but was unable to think of anything before he was heading back down the isle. Sighing to herself, Kagome placed the headphones on her ears and turned her attention to the movie, hoping it would keep her occupied at least long enough to come up with another reason to call him back.

* * *

Noticing the credits were scrolling across the black screen, Kagome realized she had slept through the rest of the movie, not that missing it was any big loss for her as she was bored after only a few minutes, but she figured trying to get some shut eye during the long flight would probably be a good idea. Gorgeous steward on board or not. Reaching up, she pressed the assistance button, watching as the steward once again was the one to come out from behind the curtain and make his way over toward her. "Can I get a pillow and blanket?" she requested sweetly as she removed her headset, realizing she was still wearing it, and setting it on top of her tray.

"Of course," he assured her before making his way back up the isle once again. Reaching her hand down on the side of her chair, her umber eyes never leaving his form, Kagome pulled up the handle and leaned back in her seat as it reclined. A few moments later he was making his way back toward her, smiling when he noticed her gaze was on him. "Sweet dreams," he whispered softly as he handed her the pillow and blanket before turning off her overhead light. Thankful the darkness hid the slight blush, his lips so close to her ear had caused, Kagome watched until she could no longer see him before putting the pillow behind her head and covering herself with the blanket.

Closing her eyes, hoping to have very sweet dreams, preferably starring him, Kagome allowed herself to drift off into slumber. A few hours passed quickly, unnoticed by her, until slight turbulence jolted her awake. Rubbing the sleep from her eyes, she glanced around to find most of the cabin had drifted off to sleep. About to try to go back to sleep herself, Kagome sighed when her stomach growled, signaling the packets of peanuts she had earlier were no longer going to sustain her. Waiting until the turbulence had ended, she reached up to turn on her overhead light before pressing the assistance button.

Seeing the steward poke his head out around the curtain, she gave him a smile, watching as he returned it and began making his way down the isle toward her. "I can't remember, is there an in flight snack offered on this trip?" she inquired when he stopped to lean down beside her, careful not to wake the other passengers around them.

"Yes, we handed out the in flight meals while you were sleeping. I will bring you one. Would you like some more coffee?" he questioned as he gestured to her earlier cup that had long grown cold. Nodding, she gave him a grateful smile as he picked it up and began making his way back toward the front of the cabin. After a few minutes she saw him heading back, a tray of food in one hand, a cup of coffee in the other. Setting in on the pull down tray in front of her, he leaned over to whisper, "Bon Appetit," before turning toward another passenger, whom was apparently still awake, and trying to get his attention.

* * *

After finishing off her meal, Kagome picked up her trashy novel, wondering how Hannah was going to keep her lover from being hung as a horse thief, as her father accused him of being when he found out about the two of them. The thought led her to wonder how the steward would look riding bareback, his long hair unbound and blowing in the wind. Pulling her nose out of the book, she reached for her coffee only to find the cup empty. Smiling at the opportunity it created for her, she reached up to push the button to call him, before holding her cup up in the isle so he would know what she wanted.

As he peeked around the curtain and spotted her actions, he returned the smile she was gracing him with and, grabbing a fresh pot of coffee, began making his way down the isle toward her. After refilling her cup and placing the sugar and cream packets next to it, he picked up her empty tray. "You know, if you keep monopolizing my time like this, the other passengers are going to start thinking you have ulterior motives," he warned her jokingly as he leaned down near her ear.

"Who says I don't?" she countered with a smirk as she winked at him and set to preparing her coffee, extremely aware of his presence next to her. Hearing his deep chuckle, Kagome turned her gaze back to him, unable to prevent the smile the melodic sound caused. "You should do that more often, you have an amazing laugh," she told him, keeping her voice low as he had done, before turning her attention back to her coffee in attempt to try and hide the slight blush that rose to her cheeks when she realized just how close their lips were to touching when she turned toward him.

"I will keep that in mind. Enjoy your book," he told her as he gestured toward the book sitting beside her coffee before turning and making his way back down the isle. Leaning over to see passed the chair in front of her, Kagome watched until he reached the curtain, startled when he turned back to smirk at her. Embarrassed about being caught ogling him, Kagome's face flamed red as she hid back behind the chair, laughing softly to herself.

* * *

Both happy and disappointed the flight was already over, Kagome sat patiently in her seat waiting as the other passengers collected their belongings and slowly began making their way toward the front of the cabin. Sure she would be the last to get off, and unlikely to run into any problems with her plan, Kagome grabbed her carry on, threw her book inside, and began following after the others. As she reached the front, the stewardess greeted her with a smile as she did the others. "Do not forget to stop by our website and join our frequent flyer program."

Locking eyes with the steward, who was standing slightly behind the stewardess, Kagome smiled. "You can count on it," she told her, winking at her true focus before turning to nod her head to the stewardess and making her way out of the plane. As she passed the steward, she pressed a small slip of paper into his hand and left without another word. He raised a single eyebrow at her retreating back as his gaze followed her movements.

"Come on, Sesshoumaru, let's get the cabin cleaned up so the plane can refuel and be ready for the return trip," the stewardess instructed, not waiting for his reply as she started moving about the cabin, cleaning up the litter left behind by the passengers. Glancing down at the note he had received, Sesshoumaru unfolded it to find she had scribbled down a few lines.

'Kagome Higurashi.

Row 15, Seat A.

81-3-XXXX

Call me.'


	3. Kagome's very bad day

Disclaimer: Inuyasha and all of its characters are property of the brilliant Takahashi-sama and I claim no ownership of them.

* * *

Title: Kagome's very bad day  
Author: Hairann

Theme: Hairann's Weird-ified Challenge: One of those days  
Genre: Comedy

AU/CU: CU

Rating: High T

Warnings: Implied nudity, one swear. Some disturbing imagery.  
Word Count: 1300

Summary: Today just isn't Kagome's day.

AN: Okies this one is set up as each scene being a 100 word drabble. This was done on purpose to give you guys just a snap shot of what happened, to go more with the flow of the song. This wasn't the song I planned on doing next, but this story came to mind and just had to write it lol.

I do not own the song One of those days, Weird Al does. I also do not own the bathing song.

***

It was only dawn and Kagome already knew it was going to be one of those mornings. The kind that made her want to stay in bed, pray she awoke the next morning to find it was just a nightmare. One of those times that when they happened to someone else they were hilarious, but when you had the starring role, you just wanted to die.

Kagome growled in frustration as she held the candy coated lock of hair. Apparently Shippo had gone to bed with a lollipop, yet again. As always, it was Kagome's hair that paid the price.

***

Kagome bent over into the river, collecting a bucket of water to cook breakfast with. While she had been busy cleaning the candy out of her hair, the half-demon had begun complaining about being hungry and wanting ramen. Of course, it never occurred to him to prepare it for himself, nope he simply demanded that she lit a fire under her and made him his breakfast.

She felt her eye twitch when a hand began caressing her backside. Swinging the bucket around to hit Miroku upside the head, Kagome lost her balance and fell backwards into the shallow river.

***

Breakfast was made and everyone was eating quietly, or at least they should have been. Instead she was half listening to Inuyasha griping about Shippo's bowl being fuller than his. Knowing full well that the portions were completely even, Kagome did her best to ignore his insistent nagging.

This of course, only caused the half-demon to become louder in his complaining when he realized he did not have her undivided attention. "Sit!" she finally hollered, her last shred of patience snapping. Unfortunately for her, the shaking his subduing created, caused her hot bowl to tip over into her lap.

***

Kagome's teeth chattered as she lowered herself into the freezing water. Unable to find a hot springs, she had to settle for bathing in the cold, uninviting river. Griping about annoying half-demons and their bottomless pits for stomachs, Kagome scrubbed the beef broth out of her skirt.

Had she known things were going to turn out like this, she would have sat him a couple of extra times for good measure. She rung out her skirt and went to place it on the shore to dry, only to spot a monkey running off with her bra around its head.

***

Arriving back at their small camp, currently braless as she didn't think to bring one along with her change of clothes, Kagome came upon a usual sight. Sango was busy petting Kirara, not paying attention to what was going on around her. Miroku's hand was slowly creeping toward her backside.

Kagome rolled her eyes, waiting for the slap that was soon to come, taking her seat by the fire to warm her cold fingers. A moment later Sango screamed in outrage, moving to hit him with Hiraikotsu, only to have him duck out of the way and hit Kagome instead.

***

Having awoken from her impromptu nap, and assuring Sango she was neither hurt nor mad, Kagome glanced around the clearing, wondering why it was so quiet. Inuyasha should have been fretting over her or fighting with Shippo, but he was no where in sight. Confused, Kagome stood and went in search of him.

She found him sitting beside the river, dunking something into the water and made her way over. Hearing her approach, Inuyasha glanced over his shoulder. "You have some weird toys," he told her, twirling the tampon by its string. Releasing it, it hit Kagome in the forehead.

***

Deciding to get away before she killed someone, Kagome began following the river. She knew it would prevent her from getting lost, but had she known what she would see, she would have preferred to get lost.

She soon came upon a very naked and wrinkly Totosai, bathing in the river. The clear water left absolutely nothing to the imagination and as she stood there, too shocked to move, he raised his leg into the air as he sang 'this is the way we wash our toes'. Wishing she had some eye bleach on hand, Kagome turned and walked away.

***

Kagome wished she hadn't gone back. In the short time she was away, company had arrived and was currently arguing with Inuyasha. Said half-demon was claiming Sesshoumaru was the bastard, while Jaken argued that Inuyasha was. Back and forth they went until they were reduced to 'nuh uh' and 'uh huh'.

She was about to 'sit' Inuyasha, tired of their pointless and childish argument, when he decided to yell 'Wind Scar'. Though it was rather weak, in fact the toad demon had easily been able to dodge it, the wind caused Kagome's skirt to rise, showing her panda undies.

***

The others had given her a wide birth after her ear splitting scream and unable to do anything else, Kagome had just stood there panting. She knew if she moved or spoke, somebody would die, and opted instead to stay put until she calmed herself.

Seeing Kagome wasn't going to sit him, Inuyasha went back to his argument with Jaken, this time instead of attacking with his sword, decided to douse him with a bucket of water. Which would have been fine, had Jaken not seen it coming and ran away, his path taking him directly in front of Kagome.

***

Kagome had stood there for a couple of minutes, doing nothing more than blinking, as she completely ignored the fact that her white shirt was now see through and, thanks to an earlier monkey thief, she was currently braless.

"This really isn't my day," Kagome decided as she crossed her arms in front of her chest and made her way over to her large, yellow backpack. Picking it up, she stomped her way out of camp to find a place to change in private, only to trip over a large tree root on her way. Again, her undies were shown.

***

Kagome made her way back to camp, dressed in a new and complete outfit, this time opting for pants and a sweater rather than the skirt and white top of her school uniform. She was ready to give everyone of them a piece of her mind, no longer willing to just sit back and take what the day had to offer.

She arrived in the clearing just in time to see Inuyasha finish off a demon that had appeared while she was gone. He sliced it in half, sending blood and guts everywhere. Well, not everywhere, just all over Kagome.

***

She had silently turned and left the camp, wondering if the clearing had some kind of bad mojo or if it was just her. Figuring it was probably her, considering the others seemed to be making it through the day unscathed, Kagome stripped and sunk into the freezing water of the river.

She furiously scrubbed the blood off of her long hair and body, from where it had seeped through her clothing, rubbing so hard that her skin became raw. She turned to grab her clothes, just in time to watch as a group of monkeys took off with them.

***

That's it, she'd had enough. No longer would she let this day do whatever it pleased. No longer would she take this sitting down. Dressed in the clothes Inuyasha had brought her, which of course were pajamas, Kagome made her way back.

She marched over to where Sesshoumaru was standing, silently watching as Rin chased Inuyasha around with a crown of flowers. Stopping in front of him, Kagome grabbed onto his haori and pulled him down to her level, plopping a nice, long kiss on his lips. "I'm going to have one good moment today, even if it kills me."


	4. Crabby Cabby Abby

Disclaimer: Inuyasha and all of its characters are property of the brilliant Takahashi-sama and I claim no ownership of them.

* * *

Title: Crabby Cabby Abby  
Author: Hairann

Theme: Hairann's Weird-ified Challenge: Traffic Jam  
Genre: Comedy

AU/CU: AU

Rating: T

Warnings: A swear or two and mention of alcohol.  
Word Count: 2617

Summary: Sesshoumaru is stuck in the back of a cab, in the middle of a traffic jam, having to listen to a very chatty driver.

Disclaimer: I do not own the song Traffic Jam, Weird Al does.

AN: Don't ask about the name lol just really seemed to fit hehe. And I know Taisho is an overused last name, but too lazy today to come up with a better one lol.

* * *

Standing on the edge of the curb, Sesshoumaru Taisho held out one of his long, slender, manicured hands as he hailed a taxi, praying he could get home to relax before his day got any worse. He was no longer sure that was even possible as already he had to deal with a fender bender on the way to work, which had totaled his very expensive foreign car and of course was the reason he was needing a taxi in the first place.

And of course, he had still been miles away from work and at five am, it was next to impossible to catch a cab, so he had to walk the rest of the way. Naturally, his cell phone's battery had run out even though it had been charging all night. Then the idiot at the coffee stand had given him decaf instead of regular even though he had been going to the very same shop six days a week, every week for the last seven years. Well no more, now he needed to find another, more intelligently run stand.

And this was all before getting to work, once there it only got worse. His incompetent assistent, or ex-assistent he should say, brought him the wrong files two minutes before an important meeting, files she should have brought him 30 minutes before. Then she spilled coffee on his keyboard, her coffee mind you, which obviously had no business anywhere near his computer, and put him out of action for most of the day. Then she had interrupted the meeting to inform him of some useless package's arrival.

And you do not even want to know what happened after lunch, but suffice to say, it had caused him to work an extra five hours of overtime, which naturally, made him finish long after the garage had closed and now he had to wait until tomorrow to get his car. Now all he wanted to do was get home, sit back and relax in his overstuffed, leather chair, a warm fire going in the fireplace, soft classical music playing in the background and a glass of his favorite Brandy in his hand.

It has a slight, rich scent and is sweet, with a tinge of tangy after taste. And to him it was heaven. Seeing a bright yellow cab, with big, bold black letters pulling up next to him, brought Sesshoumaru's attention back to the present. He leaned down and opened the door, carefully climbing in to make sure he did not step in the murky water in drainage ditch between him and the cab. "Where to sugar?" a high pitch and overly perky, feminin voice inquired from the front seat and he quickly recited his address.

"Swanky," she replied as she started up the meter and pulled away from the curb. "I don't usually get many fairs that live out that way. If you can afford a house out there, people usually have three or four cars to go with it. Yours in the shop or something?" she inquired as she glanced back at him in the review mirror, though all he could see from his position were her dark, brown eyes. Instead of answering, he simply nodded his head, hoping it would end the conversation.

Though as she pulled onto the highway, quickly cutting off a car that clearly had the right away, which they emphasized by blaring their horn, and continued speaking, he soon learned that he had no such luck. "Aren't you fancy pants, suit types usually home long before now? You picked a bad time to be heading home, Saturday nights are rush hour in this town. I hope you're comfortable back there cause it's gonna be a while."

Just as she finished speaking, Sesshoumaru could make out the over packed lanes of traffic a quarter of a mile ahead of them that they were heading straight for. Resisting the urge to sigh, he opted again not to answer her and instead turned his attention to the small ID card on the back of her chair. The small, black and white photo showed a young woman grinning from ear to ear with a rather dazzling smile. Beneath her photo was an ID number and the name 'Abby Sugarlips'.

Sesshoumaru raised a single, elegant eyebrow at the name, knowing there was no way it was her real name, or anyone's real name for that matter. "Abby Sugarlips?" he finally questioned out loud, causing the woman in front of him to snort unattractively as she pulled in behind an 18-wheeler and began the game of 'red light, green light' in slow motion with the other cars. Figuring she wasn't going to answer, Sesshoumaru turned his attention out the window.

"I only work nights and get a lot of freaks in here, it's the reason for the police cage," she explained as she shook the chain link fence that separated the front seats from the back. "My real last name is kinda well known in these parts and it wouldn't be hard for some looser to find me if they had my real name, so I prefer that one. It's obvious it's fake, but it usually keeps people from asking personal questions," she explained, flashing him a quick smile in the review mirror.

His curiosity subdued, Sesshoumaru fell back into silence, once again expecting it to be the end of the conversation, instead she encored in proving him wrong. "Do you mind if I put on the radio? I go crazy if it's too quiet," she informed him, as if he actually cared, and he simply shrugged his shoulders in response, not bothering to take his eyes off of the stagnant scenery. "Oh I love this song," she cheered just moments after turning the small, black radio nob.

Sesshoumaru found himself startled a moment later when she began belting out the lyrics extremely off key as she tapped her hand against her steering wheel in time with the song's beat. As her loud, high pitched singing caused his headache, that he had all day, to come back in full force, pounding against the inside of his head in time with her tapping, Sesshoumaru found himself wishing she would go back to talking. At least her speaking voice wasn't quite that grating.

Before he had the chance to request doing just that, she blared her horn as another driver pulled into the tiny space she had been aiming for in the next lane over. She was met with a quick middle finger out of the window along with the driver screaming something, no doubt an insult informing her where she could stick it, but whatever it had been, thankfully, had been drowned out by the loud music that blared from the speakers.

"Idiot, and people complain about women drivers. Ha, men get into far more accidents than women do when driving," she grumbled as she turned off the radio, through Sesshoumaru was unsure if she was speaking to herself or to him and decided not to inform her that while that maybe true, women's accidents were usually more severe. "Can you believe that guy? He doesn't own the damn road but he sure is acting like he does. I should have scratched his precious car."

Deciding her idle threat was just that, Sesshoumaru went back to ignoring the rather strange woman and watched as they passed one of the trees, that lined the highway, before she was tapping on her break again to avoid hitting the car in front of them. Silence reigned down over them, much to his relief, as they passed another tree, stopped and repeated the action over and over again for a mile or two. Then they simply ran out of trees.

Seeing a spot had finally opened up in the lane she had tried to merge into a few miles back, she quickly pulled into it, rudely cutting off the car behind them, returning its driver's honk with a middle finger out the window. Sesshoumaru deadpanned as he watched her, wondering if she even realized she had just done what the driver before had and had simply repeated the cicle. Deciding it would be best not to ask her if she thought _she_ owned the road, he closed his eyes, pretending he was at home relaxing as he should have been hours ago.

"Well we won't be going anywhere for a while," she informed him as she slouched back in her chair and sighed heavily at the stagnant traffic. "So what do you do for a living?" she inquired as she glanced back at him in the review mirror, undisturbed by the fact that his eyes were closed. Instead of answering, he simply opened one eye and stared at her reflection in the mirror. "Don't be a sour puss, we might as well talk to pass the time and I see no reason to ask about the weather when I can see it very well for myself."

"I am a stock broker," he replied opening his other eye with a barely audible sigh. Either she didn't hear it or opted to ignore it as she gesture for him to continue speaking. "I work for my father, he owns the brokerage firm. You were right earlier, I should have been home hours ago, however, my now ex-assistant royally screwed up today causing me to have to stay for five hours passed my regular overtime."

"Guess I don't have to ask why she's your 'ex-assistant'," she told him with a laugh before gesturing to herself. "I mentioned earlier that I only work at night, right?" she questioned and waited for him to nod that she had before continuing, "Well I'm a student during the day. Don't ask what I am majoring in, I'm still undecided. I drive a cab to pay for it, Grandpa cut me off during my second year, after I had changed my major for the fifth time.

"Not that I can blame him, but he thinks I should leave school until I make up my mind, but I'm worried about losing my momentum, not that I really have any, and not going back. I'd rather be undecided for a few years than end up a college drop out. Thankfully the college isn't too expensive and I can easily pay for it with this job. I should have graduation a year ago though, if I had figured out the right major and taken the classes anyways.

"But I've checked out all of the classes for almost every major and still haven't found one I like, though I have discovered I should stay far away from hospitals, animals, kids, courthouses and well pretty much anything that lives and breathes. Don't really have the patience for them. Though I have no idea why, I had no problem with my little brother or our pet cat growing up. But now, pretty much everything annoys me.

"Too bad there isn't a hermit major," she told him, laughing at her joke, he of course opted to not join in. "So do you have any pets? Do you like cats or are you more of a dog person? You look like you'd be a dog person. I'm not really a pet person, I tend to forget to feed them. Not that you could ever tell with Buyo, he's the cat I was telling you about. He looks more like he always goes back for seconds," she rambled, not giving him any time to answer her questions.

Noticing she had fallen into silence and was looking at him pointedly via the review mirror, Sesshoumaru figured it was his turn to speak. "I am a dog person or at least my five-year-old daughter decided I am. For every birthday she insists on a puppy, we now have four of them, but as she takes care of them, I can not really complain. Though I do wish she would wash them all the same day, instead of having the whole house smelling like wet dog for four days a week."

"You're married? Wasn't really looking, mind you, but I didn't see a ring when you got in," she pointed out before turning her attention back to the road when the traffic crawled up a few feet before coming to a dead stop once again. Once she had moved up as far as she could, she turned back to her fair in the backseat, gesturing for him to respond to her earlier question. He sighed inaudibly, debating if he should just pretend he had not seen the gesture.

Though as he figured she would simply reask the question, he decided it would be better to just answer her. "I am not married. My ex decided she would rather continue her modeling career instead of settling down and raising our daughter. Though it is better this way, not a week goes by that the woman does not have her face plastered across some tabloid dong something trashy. It is good that my daughter does not know who she is.

"You can pull off at the next exit. We are close enough that I can walk home from here and I need to stretch my legs. I am used to this trip only taking a half an hour and, at this rate, it will be another hour at least before we arrive," he told her as he gestured to the sign indicating they were passing an offramp. She gave him a quick nod, before turning her attention back to the road and slowly creeping her way into the right hand lane as the traffic crawled along.

Neither of them spoke as they slowly made their way toward the next exit, taking almost 30 minutes to travel a mile. Pulling onto the offramp, she continued driving until she had gotten far enough away from the highway to be safe for pedestrians and pulled the cab up to the side of the road. "That'll be $45.50," she told him as she turned in her seat and pointed to the small 'mail' slot embedded in the back of the passenger seat.

Taking a 50 out of his billfold, he passed it through the slot and climbed out of the cab without waiting for his change. She quickly doubled checked it to make sure it was real before turning toward him with a smile. Rolling down the passenger window, she called out to him, "Have a good night Sesshoumaru Taisho." Confused, Sesshoumaru turned back to inquire on how she knew his name as he wasn't well known, preferring to live a private life.

"You're name is inscribed on your briefcase," she informed him, gesturing to the black leather and gold plated briefcase he was holding onto. "I love the glitter by the way, a very nice touch," she joked, knowing it had no doubt been added by his daughter, though judging by the expression on his face, he had not noticed it before. "And since I know yours, I guess it is only fair you know mine as well. It's Kagome Higurashi."

Recognizing the name of a well known shrine, Sesshoumaru understood the reasoning for her not wanting her passengers to know her real name. It would in fact be very easy to look her up if he ever desired to as he passed her family's shrine every day on the way to and from work. "Good night, Miss Higurashi," he bid her with a slight nod of his head before turning and beginning the long trek toward his home. Each step bringing him closer to his much anticipated Brandy.


	5. The 'force' is strong with this one

Disclaimer: Inuyasha and all of its characters are property of the brilliant Takahashi-sama and I claim no ownership of them.

* * *

Title: The 'force' is strong with this one...  
Author: Hairann

Theme: Hairann's Weird-ified Challenge: Yoda  
Genre: Comedy

AU/CU: CU

Rating: T

Warnings: Couple of swears, complete and utter insanity.  
Word Count: 1103

Summary: Laughing gas + feudal era = a bad idea.

Disclaimer: I do not own the song Yoda, Weird Al does, I also do not own any of the Star Wars movies, Lightsabers, Wookies or the Force.

AN: Heads up warning, I have never seen any of the Star Wars series, so do not expect anything to be accurate. I know only a few key points about the story, such as the relationship between Darth and Luke, but up until a little while ago, I thought Yoda and Obi-wan were the same person lol. Not to mention this is a parody of a parody lol.

* * *

Kagome giggled as she stretched her leg over the lip of the well, her foot slipping slightly on the wet grass, causing her giggles to raise in pitch. Using only her upper body to pull herself the rest of the way out of the well, she slipped on the edge, landing on her face on the damp grass. Still giggling, Kagome used the well to help pull herself back to her feet, dusted off her clothes discreetly and began making her way toward the village.

Doing her best not to lose her balance, Kagome slowly made her way toward the village where the others were waiting for her, only to hear a commotion coming from the other direction. Giggling softly to herself, she turned toward the noise, never considering she could be putting herself in any danger. As she stumbled her way through the dense forest, she came upon a usual sight, though normally she was a part of it rather than a passerby.

Standing in a semi-circle in the clearing were her friends and one of Naraku's puppets obviously about to battle. She glanced around at each of them in turn, but instead of seeing them as they truly were, she saw them in a very strange, new light. "Sugoi...," she whispered, drawing everyone's attention to her as she stared wide eyed at them, jawing dropping to her chest. As they watched her transfixed on her odd movements, she sluggishly made her way over to where Miroku was standing.

"So furry," she said as she reached out to feel Miroku's 'fur' which was of course simply his violet robe. "How do you keep your fur so soft, Chewbacca?" she questioned, causing Miroku to do a double take, thinking he had misheard her, before turning to mouth 'Chewbacca?' to Inuyasha. Not sure what the strange word meant either, Inuyasha merely shrugged his shoulders in response. "Truthfully, I've always been a little jealous, I wish my hair was that soft."

"Kagome are you alright?" Inuyasha wondered, not entirely sure he wanted to bring the stranger than normal girl's attention to him. Kagome turned toward him, tilting her head to the side in question as she blinked at him. Realizing who was standing there, she squealed before running over to him and wrapping her arms around Inuyasha's waist. Inuyasha barely managed to keep his balance with the force of her glomp.

"Brother Luke, it is so good to see you safe and sound. I was afraid Darth Vader may have harmed you while I was away and I can not bare to see that," she insisted as she embraced him tightly until he squirmed his way out of her arms and stared at her in shock. "Luke? What is wrong? Are you ill?" she questioned concerned as she reached her hand up to gently check his forehead for a fever. Finding none, she tilted her head to the side in question once again.

"Who the hell is Luke? And what is a Chewbacca?" Inuyasha demanded, crossing his arms in front of his chest, completely forgetting about Naraku's puppet and the others being there. Kagome simply blinked at him in confusion, unable to understand why he was asking those questions. Perhaps he really was ill, there was no other explanation for him not knowing who he was or what Chewbacca was.

"You're Luke and Chewbacca is a Wookie, are you sure you're not ill?" she questioned as she once again tried to test his temperature only to have him back away from her hand. Again she simply blinked at him, wondering why her 'brother' was acting so out of character. Kagome giggled at his confused and annoyed expression, causing it to deepen. "Luke you look so adorable like that," she told him, her giggling becoming more presistent as he glared at her.

"What the hell is a Wookie?!" he demanded before shaking his head, deciding he didn't really want to know, there was no telling how strange her answer would be. "Never mind that, if you can hold in your apparent mind sickness for just a moment, I need to deal with Naraku," he informed her as he walked passed her and unsheathed Tetsusaiga, pointing it at the nearby puppet. Kagome turned around to see who he was referring to and once she did, she rushed over to 'Luke'.

"Put your Lightsaber away! You can not kill him!" she insisted as she stepped in front of him just as he went to rush toward the puppet causing both of them, Inuyasha and Naraku, to stare at her, jaws dropping. "Luke he is your father!" she yelled as she grabbed a hold of his shoulders and shook him vigorously. Inuyasha began stuttering as he tried to understand what she was talking about, but was unable to get more than a few broken words out due to his shock.

Completely losing it, Naraku's puppet began laughing uncontrollably at the idea of him being Inuyasha's father. The eerie sound was cut of in mid-laugh as Sesshoumaru's whip sliced through its neck and the Baboon pelt fluttered to the ground, revealing a small wooden statue of Naraku. Hearing a strange noise, Kagome turned back around to where 'Darth Vader' had just been and saw Sesshoumaru standing there silently.

"Han Solo!" she cheered as she rushed toward him, wrapping her arms around his waist before he could realize what she was doing. "Now that Darth Vader is dead, does that mean we can finally get married?" she inquired, throughly confusing him just as she had her friends. About to demand she release him upon threat of death, Sesshoumaru was cut off when Kagome squealed and released him. Rushing over to where Jaken and Rin were waiting, she droped to her knees before him and embraced the startled toad demon.

"Yoda! May the force be with you!" she bellowed, kissing the now blushing demon on the forehead.

* * *

Later that night, Kagome awoke with a pounding headache and as she opened her eyes with a yawn, she glanced around to find herself in Kaede's hut. Finding it strange, as the last thing she remembered was going to the dentist to have a tooth, that had been damaged in a battle a few days back, fixed. Shaking her head to clear the fog that had settled in her mind while she slept, Kagome began to remember the dream she had been having. "I just had the strangest dream," she informed Inuyasha when she noticed him watching her from the other side of the hut.

"Yeah? Well I just lived through a nightmare."


	6. Demon Park

Disclaimer: Inuyasha and all of its characters are property of the brilliant Takahashi-sama and I claim no ownership of them.

* * *

Title: Demon Park  
Author: Hairann

Theme: Hairann's Weird-ified Challenge: Jurassic Park  
Genre: Comedy

AU/CU: AU

Rating: T

Warnings: OCCness, random insanity that may not make sense.  
Word Count: 6081

Summary: The Higurashi family spends the day at a new theme park.

Disclaimer: I do not own the song Jurassic Park, Weird Al does. I also do not own the book or movie francise.

AN: This does not follow the movie storyline, and is in fact quite different since this is meant to be funny, not scary.

* * *

"We're here!" Souta cheered as he rushed from the car, their mother barely having gotten it in park a moment before his door was thrown open. Ignoring their mother's calls for him to not rush ahead, Souta quickly made his way over to the ticket stand and began bouncing up and down in front of the very amused teller. "Hurry up mom! Hurry up Kagome! I want to see them!" he hollered over his shoulder drawing the attention of nearby patrons.

Rolling her umber eyes at her younger brother's excitement, not really seeing the attraction herself, as she made her way to the teller unhurried, producing her three free admittance tickets that she had won in a lottery. "Wow, you're lucky you won these. We've been completely sold out since we opened last week. I was hoping I wouldn't have to turn away this little guy," the teller told her with a smile as he gestured toward her still bouncing brother.

"Yeah winning them really made his day, though truthfully, I was hoping on the three days, two night spa trip that was also available," Kagome explained with a laugh, ignoring Souta's calls for her to hurry up. Chuckling, the teller took the tickets and tore off the tips before handing them back and telling them to enjoy their visit. "Alright, we can go now," she told Souta as she put away the ticket stubs and grabbed onto his hand to make sure he didn't try and run off alone.

As they walked toward them, the large double gates blocking the park off from the outside world, opened up inward allowing them to enter. As soon as the three of them had passed the threshold, the gates closed, locking audibly behind them. Glancing around, trying to figure out what they were supposed to do now, Kagome spotted an employer, judging by the bright, red uniform she was wearing with the words 'Demon Park' embroidered on the front, as she jogged over to them waving.

"Greetings and welcome to Demon Park, the only place here on Earth where you can see real, live demons. If you will follow me, I will guide you to your cart and go over some basic information about both the demons and the park itself," she informed them as she gestured toward the way she had come and began heading back in that direction. "About 10 years ago, a scientist discovered a cave full of fossilized demon bones and after many failed attempts, last year he was finally able to extract enough demon DNA to begin cloning them.

"Doctor Jinenji, the scientist, began construction on this site about six months ago, about the same time as he began collecting massive amounts of DNA from many different demon species in order to create the attraction that we have today," she told them before stopping before a small, four seat, electric cart that sat atop a set of railroad like tracks. "Please fasten your seatbelts as the road can get rather bumpy," she instructed as she waited for them to take their seats before climbing in the front and starting up the silent cart.

As their cart began traveling slowly down the railroad, she continued, "Here we have over 50 species of demons, including dog, fox, wolf and even a strange combination that we aren't really sure what he is. Doctor Jinenji believes somehow during the extracting process, more than one demon's DNA was mixed. As I am sure you know from mythology, some more powerful demons have both an animalistic form and a humanoid form.

"We have some demons like this. And while most are completely docile, there are a few hostile demons, and for this very reason, we have some rules everyone must follow. Never leave the cart unless told otherwise, as we do have some attractions we have set up for interaction. Do not stick anything into any of the fences; food, body part or otherwise. If you somehow cut yourself, inform me immediately as some of the demons react to the scent of human blood.

"Do not mock or insult the demons as you will make a nice snack. Remember to keep your children with you at all times as they are a bite sized snack. And do not throw things at the demons, as they will return the favor by throwing you," she warned just as Kagome noticed a sign they were passing. The words 'Do not feed the demons!' jumped out at her in huge, bold letters. "Is everyone clear on the rules?" she inquired as she glanced at each of them in turn, giving them a pointed look until they nodded that they did.

"Very well then. Coming up on our right you will see our very first attraction, which just so happens to be one you can interact with and we will be leaving the cart. Just wait until it comes to a complete stop," she informed them as their cart detoured to a small cut off in the rails before coming to a stop in front of a fenced in area with a large sign stating 'Fox Demons', underneath which was a smaller sign that read 'Careful, they can be tricky'.

"Welcome to the fox demons area of Demon Park, here you will find some of our most adorable demons, however, as you notice the sign warns, they can be tricksters. Their pranks are completely harmless, though they can be a bit annoying. Watch your step getting out of the cart and please follow me," the guide instructed as she exited the cart herself and made her way over to a small pin code pad to the right of the gate.

She quickly entered her personal code and the gate swung inwards, and she walked inside gesturing for them to follow after her. Once they were all inside, the gate swinged closed, audibly locking behind them. "Do you see the movement in the bushes just over there?" she questioned as she pointed to the rustling bushes a few yards away from them. "That would be our demons, they like to jump out and scare anyone who comes to visit.

"Fox demons have been known throughout history as being the greatest illusionist and can in fact mimic the appearance of anyone they meet. You can usually tell the age of one, by how good their illusion is. The younger, less experienced demons tend to be unable to hide their tails when they do transformations," she explained as she continued leading them toward the demons before stopping just a few feet away from the bushes and gesturing for them to take a seat on the grass.

"They tend to be a bit shy at first due to our larger size, fox demons are usually rather small, in fact, some of the smallest demons we have here," she explained to their confused expressions. "As you will remember I mentioned earlier, some of our demons have both animalistic and humanoid forms, fox demons are the same way, however, they are unique from other demons. For them, when they are young they take on a humanoid form and take on their animalistic form later in life, whereas most other demons that have both, it's the other way around.

"These little guys," she said as she gestured toward the three small fox demons that were making their way out of the bushes and toward them, "Are some of our most friendly ones. I don't think I have made a single trip into this area without seeing them. On the right you have Chikako, in the middle is Shippo and on the left is Haru. And a little known fact about fox demons is although they can eat meat, they prefer to be vegetarians.

"I actually have some approved leaves that you can feed them, usually they will do tricks in appreciation," she explained as she reached into her pack and grabbed a couple of the leaves for each of them and handed them over. "You need only hold it out for them and they will take the leaves," she continued as she did just that and they watched as the female fox grabbed it before curtsying to the guide.

"That's so cute!" Souta exclaimed as he bounced in place, holding out both of his leaves to the other two foxes. The first one, Haru, took his before quickly munching on it and pulling a smaller, green leaf out of no where. Making sure he had Souta's undivided attention, he held the leaf to his head and in a puff of smoke, transformed into a Souta look-a-like, only his version had a tail. "Wow!" Souta cheered, clapping his hands as his eyes grew as large as saucers.

"Wow!" Haru mimicked, his voice identical to Souta's causing his eyes to grow impossibly larger as he began stuttering and pointing to the fox demon. Haru, of course, repeated the action, only pointing toward the real Souta rather than himself. After a moment, Souta gave up trying to talk and instead opted to just bust up laughing, holding onto his sides as the force of his laughter threatened to knock him off balance. Haru soon followed suit.

"Yes, some of the demons here are capable of speech. And a lot of those, such as our fox friends here, are actually quite intelligent. If they so choose, they can hold real conversations with you, though they do tend to talk in riddles most of the time," she explained as Chikako took another leaf from her hand and started humming a soft, sweet tune as she rocked back and forth on her feet in time to it. Kagome watched her for a few moments, giving the cute demon a soft smile until she noticed someone was sitting down in her lap.

Glancing down, she found the third fox, Shippo, was sitting there, silently staring up at her with big, doe eyes. Smiling at him gently, she handed over one of the leaves she was holding and watched as he quickly gobbled it up before looking back at her for seconds. Laughing, Kagome handed him the second leaf and wondered if he was intending to do a trick like the others or if he was planning to jip her, as he had yet to do anything.

Apparently he chose neither option as he leaned up to kiss her on the cheek before scrambling out of her lap and heading back over to where his friends were waiting, a slight blush staining his cheeks. Kagome giggled at the cute sight he made before their guide standing, and dusting herself off, brought her attention back to her. "It is time to move on. If we stay here too long, the next group after us will have no place to park," she explained as she waved goodbye to the foxes and began leading the way back toward their waiting cart.

Giving the cute demons a quick wave, Kagome followed after her, making sure Souta was coming as well. Once she had punched in her code in the keypad on their side of the fence, the gate opened and they made their way back to their seats. The guide quickly started up the silent engine and backed the cart up, heading back onto the main rail line. As Kagome glanced behind her, hoping to catch one last glimpse of the demons, she found the three of them standing on the fence waving goodbye.

Giggling, she gave them another wave and turned her attention back to their guide as she began speaking once again. "Next up on the tour is the wolf demons. Though we will be stopping, we will stay outside of the fence as they can be a bit testy at a times and it is simply safer this way," she explained before falling into silence as she drove the short distance to the next fenced in area, before pulling onto a small detour on the rail again and turning off the cart.

"Please stay in the cart here, we wouldn't want you to get bit if you get too close to the fence," she told them as she turned in her seat and gestured toward the small pack of wolves that were heading their way. Glancing over, Kagome spotted a sign stating 'Wolf demons', below it another that warned 'Careful, they tend to claim things that are not theirs'. Confused, she turned back toward the guide in question.

"Trust me, it's better not to know," she explained with a laugh before turning their attention back to the demons. "Much like the fox demons, wolves are also a unique breed. As you will notice, the ones coming up so far look like completely normal wolves right?" she questioned, pausing to wait until they nodded their heads before continuing, "Well they also have the two forms, animalistic and humanoid, however, each individual demon only has one form.

"They either have an animalistic or a humanoid form for their entire life. We are not entirely sure why it is like this, but Doctor Jinenji believes that the current regular wolves you can find over most of the world, are in fact the descendants of these demons. He believes that wolves were never animals, simply demons that were mistaken for animals as people began to see demons as myths. All of the wolf demons found here, were created through our cloning process, none were taken from the wild.

"We should have at least one humanoid demon show up soon, they tend to send out this group before hand to give them an idea of who is out here. Unlike the wolves in the wild, these tend to be rather docile unless provoked, however, it is difficult to know what would provoke them and what wouldn't, hense the reason this is not an interaction attraction. Ah it seems you guys are in for a treat, their leader has decided to join us today," she informed them as she nodded toward the humanoid demon that was making his way over to them, exiting a cave just a few yards away from the fence.

He slauntered over to the fence, resting his arms on the top board as he glanced at each of them in turn before whistling at Kagome and turning back to the guide. "She's a cute one, can I have her?" he inquired, flashing Kagome a fanged smirk, causing her to blush as the rather gorgeous male was wearing little more than a loin cloth made of fur. "You wanna be my woman?" he offered, giving Kagome his undivided attention.

"This is what I was talking about," the guide joked softly to Kagome before turning back to him. "No Kouga, as I have already explained, you can not have any of the young girls that come here. And besides, you already have a mate," she reminded him, gesturing toward the fiery red head that was currently stomping her way over toward them. Instead of tending to the furious demon behind him, Kouga sent Kagome another fanged smirk, earning himself an impromptu nap when the female hit him over the head.

"Baka," she mumbled under her breath, rolling her green eyes at her mate before turning her attention to the guests. "Don't mind him, Sugar, he's completely harmless, I make sure of it. I'm Ayame, alpha female of the wolf pack. The raging hormone at my feet, is my useless mate Kouga, as I am sure the lovely guide has already explained. Don't judge all of us by his behavior, we're much more civilized than that. Well most of us anyways," she corrected as she glared down at the unconscious demon at her feet.

"No worries, we have some males like that too," Kagome assured her, an image of Hojo coming to mind. Her poor classmate just couldn't get it through his thick head that she wasn't interested in being more than just friends, and the constant meddling by her girl friends sure wasn't helping any. Kagome was actually thankful that the tickets were for this weekend, it had gotten her out of another 'date' between the two of them.

"Oh just a warning," Ayame began after giving Kagome a smile and turning her attention back to the guide. "Be careful when you head over toward the white dogs, the punk has been growling up a storm all morning and it is unlikely that you will find him in a good mood, not that he really has a good mood. It's mostly just bad and worse," she explained to Kagome with a chuckle. "Apparently he is not happy about his new little brother."

"Was he born today? Darn it they didn't tell me," she complained after Ayame had nodded her head. "Guess you guys will be in for a real treat today," she told her passengers with a smile before turning back to Ayame. "We should probably head out, I want to get them to the white dogs before the little guy gets too tired for visiters," she explained with a smile before waving goodbye to the wolf demon just as Kouga began to wake from his nap.

"Where's my woman going?" he question, not realizing his mate was standing beside him. A moment later, he was asleep on the ground again as Ayame rolled her green eyes before waving and turning back toward her den. Grumbling about idiot males under her breath, she decided to leave him out in the open, not in the mood to carry him back to their den yet again. Kagome giggled quietly at the sight before turning back around her seat.

"You mentioned a new demon was born," she began, speaking to their guide who nodded her head, "Aren't you worried about overpopulation with the demons procreating?" Kagome couldn't imagine an unfeeling scientist not preventing that from happening, if it was possible, even if she herself thought it was the cruelest thing to do. Instead of replying right away, the guide laughed at the idea, waving her hand as if dismissing the thought.

"Doctor Jinenji would have never allowed that. Although the scientific community has questioned it many times, you are in fact the first patron who has done so, and much less rudely than they did. Demons actually don't usually have too many offspring, the average is usually about three and this is only the fourth birth since we began. Speaking of births though, usually next on the tour would be the two-tailed cat demons, however, one of the females is currently pregnant and it makes them rather antisocial, so it has been taken off of the tour until further notice.

"So next will be the strange combination I was telling you about when you first arrived," she explained as they continued on down the railway before pulling off at another detour, stopping in front of a rather dark and ominous looking area. "We know for a fact he is at least part spider demon, as that was the DNA they were trying to extract, but we are not too sure about his other species. Here we will be staying inside the cart, as he is one of our most hostile demons.

"There are two other demons in this attraction, one is a young void demon and the other is a wind demon. The latter two are usually rarer to see, but he likes to come taunt the people that visit," she explained as she gestured toward the dark, threatening cloud that was heading their way. Curious as to what the sign would say for him, Kagome glanced down at the fence quickly spotting them. The first read 'Void, Wind and Other Demons' the second, smaller one warned 'Careful, do not breath in the misama'.

"What exactly is misama and how can we prevent ourselves from inhaling it?" Kagome questioned as she turned the guide's attention to the signs. Before she had the chance to answer, the 'cloud' took the form of a man, who shot a dark blast of what looked like the cloud itself, toward her, only to have it bounce harmlessly off of an invisible shield that surrounded the fenced in area. "Oh," Kagome whispered, shivering as the demon began chuckling darkly.

"More lambs to the slaughter?" he questioned, smirking coldly at Kagome and her family before turning toward the guide. "They look to be very sweet, how about a taste?" he requested, licking his lips, causing even the guide to shiver this time. Seeing their frightened expressions, he chuckled darkly before transforming back into his cloud form and disappearing in an instant. The guide shivered once more before taking a deep breath and turning back to the passengers.

"He's scary, but he can't harm you, he can't leave the fenced in area. We have put in place plenty of precautions to make sure our visiters are safe. He just likes to torment everyone. He was Naraku, the other the sign mentions, which he is still pissed about. He claims we should put 'spider' instead of 'other', but Doctor Jinenji is refusing to change it until he stops trying to scare people so he's a bit testy at the moment."

"Worry not, you shall leave unharmed," a emotionless voice told them, turning their attention back to the 'cage'. Standing there was a young, almost albino demon, staring at them expressionlessly. "I am Kanna. The guide will be unable to tell you much about me. I am a void demon. The void is nothing, nothing is the void. I merely exist," she explained in a monotone voice, staring blankly at each of them in turn.

"Are you playing nicey nice with the little mortals, Kanna?" a voice questioned, seemingly out of no where and as they glanced up, the found an older female demon floating above the smaller one. Turning her attention to the 'mortals', she looked them each over before speaking directly to them, "I am Kagura, I am the wind." Unable to think any coherent thoughts, Kagome merely stared at the pair, gapping like a fish.

"Mortals? And why is she flying on a leaf? Demons can fly? Can't they escape if they can fly?" Kagome questioned once she finally regained use of her voice and turned back toward her guide. Once again, before she had the chance to speak, she was cut off by a demon, who scoffed at Kagome with a slight glare.

"Yes mortals, did you not know that demons are in fact immortal? Well we are and it is not a leaf to twit, what do I look like? A fox demon? It is a feather, obviously," Kagura spat at her, mumbling about the inferior eyesight that humans had before turning back to the guide. "It is time you move on, I tire of these morons you bring to look upon us as though we were some kind of freak show. Be on your way and inform your little friends to leave us be for now," she instructed before flying away on her feather without another word.

Hearing Kagome's soft 'sorry', Kanna merely shrugged her shoulders before turning and disappearing before their eyes. "Don't worry about it, she's a bit testy today too it seems. She's usually much more civil," the guide insisted as she restarted the engine and began backing up, taking them back onto the main railway. "Naraku was probably getting on her nerves again and she just took it out on you. She's really not that easy to offend.

"Next we have a really interesting attraction. He is in fact, the only one of his kind that we have been able to clone and from what we've gathered about his kind, they are in fact all male. We are not entirely sure how they reproduce and he's not exactly willing to tell us, so it's remaining a mystery for the moment. He tends to be a bit testy, but is completely harmless so don't worry, but we will be remaining in the cart as he is more likely to talk if we stay far enough away," she explained as she pulled into another detour and turned off the cart.

Already used to the drill, Kagome instantly began looking for the signs, which were located roughly in the same spot as the others. 'Imp demon', the first read and beneath was 'Careful, do not call him a toad'. Kagome laughed quietly, hiding it behind her hand as she turned her attention to the area in front of her. "You'll have to stand up to see him, he is rather short," the guide explained as she did just that, the others following her lead, and pointed to a small lake in the middle of a clearing.

"His name is Jaken, and as the sign says, he is an imp demon. Please do not confuse him with a toad demon, he tends to get rather annoyed when people do. Apparently is an old insult to his kind, or some such thing," she explained before falling silent as the small, green demon began making his way over to the fence, glaring at each of them in turn. "Hello Jaken, glad to see you are willing to grace us with your presence today."

"With your idle chit chat it is rather hard to ignore you. I find it is quicker to make you leave, if I come over. So please finish up your gawking soon and be on your way, you are interrupting my mid morning swim," he informed them as he turned to glare at the wide eyed Souta. "Do not even think about it, little boy, I can practically see the word 'toad' forming on your lips," he warned, causing Souta to sit back down sheepishly.

"Perhaps we should move on and not disturbe him any longer?" Kagome suggested, turning to the guide after giving Jaken an understanding smile. He obviously did not want them bothering him, and she knew what that was like, well maybe not the being an attraction part, but her girl friends had gotten on her nerves enough times to feel like one.

"I like her, first half-way intelligent human I have met yet. Good day," he bid Kagome, completely ignoring the rest of them, before turning around to head back toward his lake. A few moments later, a quiet splash was heard and chuckling, the guide began heading down the railway once again. They sat in silence until she had pulled up in front of another gate, who's signs read 'White dog demons' and 'Careful, do not anger them'.

"This is our last and most majestic attraction, the white dog demons. Whether or not this will be an interaction attraction, will depend on their mood. As was mentioned earlier, the alpha female of this pack just recently gave birth, this morning in fact, and she may not be willing to allow you near the pup. Though the two alphas are rather docile, unless you piss them off, the elder son is not so much. We're pretty sure his father is the only one who can keep him inline and he has been even more testy since his mother became pregnant.

"The white dogs are one of the demons that are born in an animalistic form and learn to use a humanoid form later in life. They are also one of the most powerful breeds of demons ever in existence. Their true form, is that of a gigantic and, obviously as their name suggestions, white dog. Speaking of, that would be the alpha male, Toga," the guide informed them as the ground began to shake beneath them and after a moment they could see the large, white form coming their way.

"We will stay in the cart until after he gives us premission to enter," she explained nodding in greeting to the demon as his large form melted away to reveal an almost human form, save for the fangs, claws and pointy ears. Kagome could see her mother fanning herself from her seat in the front and really couldn't blame her. If Kouga had been anything to look at, Toga was 'the' thing to look at, even if he was fully dressed. "Good day, Toga. Is she up for visiters?" she inquired as she bowed deeply to him from her seat.

"Aye she is, however, I should warn you to keep the noise level down, Sesshoumaru is in a bad mood today. He's somewhere hidden in here as we speak," he told her, gesturing to the wide open landscape behind him. Giving him a quick nod, the guide turned back to her passengers and motioned for them to leave the cart and began making her way over toward the keypad. Quickly punching in her code, she lead the way in as the gate opened and began following Toga as he lead them deeper into the 'cage'.

"Mate, there are guests," Toga called out after a few moments of silence had passed and the ground began to shake again as another giant, white dog appeared from behind a large mountain, a small pup running around at her feet. "His eyes have not opened yet, but he will know you are there. As long as you are careful, I will permit you to pet him," Toga informed them as he turned back to them, but before any of them had the chance to say anything, the ground began to shake again.

After a moment, another large, white dog appeared, only this one was snarling at them, causing Souta to hide behind his mother's legs as the young pup did the same with his own mother. Rolling his golden eyes, Toga called over his shoulder, "If you do not wish to play nice, Sesshoumaru, go and hide yourself. No one is forcing you to show yourself." Sesshoumaru snorted at his father, before turning his attention to Kagome, who was slowly inching her way to stand in front of her mother and brother.

Tilting his enormous head to the side slightly as he inspected her, Sesshoumaru huffed before biting his large fangs into her backpack and lifting her high into the air. As he took off with her, Kagome screaming the entire way, Toga simply rolled his golden eyes at his son's actions. "Worry not, he will not hurt her. Apparently he is in a playful mood today, probably just jealous of the attention his little brother is getting and just wants some to himself.

"You have my word, your daughter will remain unharmed," he assured their mother as she glanced fearfully between the guide and Toga. Seeing she still did not look at ease, he continued, "Sesshoumaru can be a jerk, however, he would never harm a defenseless child. Though if it will put your mind at ease, I will go and check on them myself." Seeing her nod of appreciation, Toga began following his son's trail.

* * *

Out of breath and unable to scream anymore, Kagome crossed her arms in front of her chest as she glared up at the large demon that still held her in the air. Sesshoumaru simply snorted at her as he stopped in a clearing, apparently arriving at their destination as he carefully released her, his mouth only a foot off of the ground. Landing with a thump, Kagome turned back to glare at him only to realize just how big and how close he was to her.

"You're not going to eat me are you?" she questioned meekly as she rose to her feet and slowly began walking backwards, not wanting to aggravate him with any sudden movements. He snorted again and began to shake his large form, taking his golden eyes off of her for a split second. Taking full advantage of the distraction, Kagome turned on her heel and began to run as fast as she could, not caring that she had no idea which way the exit was.

It didn't really matter anyways as she had only gotten a few yards before she glanced back over her shoulder to see if he was chasing her and ran into something hard and unyielding. Staring up from her position on the ground, Kagome found herself unable to see anything besides a large furry paw. Before her eyes, he began to transform into his humanoid form and she could do little else but gape at him in shock. He was even more gorgeous than his father.

"This Sesshoumaru does not eat humans, they tend to be too sweet," he replied, finally answering her earlier question. Shaking her head to clear her shock, she turned back to him as she slowly rose back to her feet and dusted herself off. "It is useless to run, this Sesshoumaru will catch you," he warned as he took a step toward her only to have to take a step backwards. Raising a single, elegant eyebrow at her, Sesshoumaru stared silently.

"So not going to ask how you know that," Kagome decided more to herself than to him before taking a deep breath and continuing, "If you are not going to eat me, why did you just kidnap me? Do you have any idea how worried my mother must be? Can you take me back now or at least point me in the right direction?" she requested as she gestured to the completely identical trees that surrounded them, blocking them off from the rest of the world.

"This Sesshoumaru was bored, you will entertain me. This Sesshoumaru's father will no doubt explain that you are in no danger, you will be returned once you have amused me," he informed her as he calmly walked over to the nearest tree and sat gracefully at its base. Kagome stood there gaping at him, unmoving from her spot and he sighed almost inaudibly before continuing, "The longer you stall, the longer you will remain."

"What do you mean entertain you? Want me to tell a joke? Dance around like an idiot? Tell a story? Can't you give me any idea of what you would find amusing?" she demanded as she stomped her foot only to be met with silence. Rolling her umber eyes at him, as he did not seem to be willing to give her any help, she walked over to stand in front of him and began tapping her foot in impatience. "This would be a lot easier if I knew what you think is entertaining.

"But fine, whatever," she mumbled with a sigh as she began wracking her brain for anything a demon might find amusing, especially one like him. Unable to come up with anything else, Kagome sighed heavily as she got down on all four and began barking like a dog, hoping the strange sounds didn't translate into some kind of language for him. Sesshoumaru stared at her in shock for a moment until she began wagging her behind as if she had a tail.

Unable to keep it in any longer, Sesshoumaru bust up laughing, rolling around on the ground as he did. In complete shock over the strange sight, Kagome stopped what she was doing to stare at him in confusion. Unbeknownst to either of them, a silent figure watched for a few moments before confirming that she was indeed safe and headed back the way he had come. "Umm Sesshoumaru, are you alright?" she inquired when he had failed to stop laughing after a full minute.

"This Sesshoumaru is fine," he replied after clearing his throat and getting himself back under control. Rising to his feet, Sesshoumaru dusted himself off before turning his attention back to her and closing the distance between them while she was too busy standing herself to notice his approach. Placing a clawed finger on either side of her chin, he raised her face until she was looking him directly in the eyes and flashed her a quick smirk.

"This Sesshoumaru hopes you will return to entertain him again, he would love to see what you do next," he told her before leaning down to place a light kiss on her lips. Before she had even realized what was happening, he had disappeared and she found herself standing there all alone in the clearing. Kagome stomped her foot as she glanced around, hoping to see some indication of where she was supposed to go.

"You said you would return me!"


	7. Sunday drive

Disclaimer: Inuyasha and all of its characters are property of the brilliant Takahashi-sama and I claim no ownership of them.

* * *

Title: Sunday drive.

Author: Hairann

Theme: Hairann's Weird-ified Challenge: She drives like crazy

Genre: Comedy

AU/CU: AU

Rating: T

Warnings: Do not try this at home.

Word Count: 1580

Summary: Sometimes you should really listen to what people tell you.

I do not own the song She drives like crazy, Weird Al does.

* * *

"You're driving too fast, slow down. You're already going ten miles over the speed limit as it is," a gruff voice informed the driver as he watched them fly through a yellow light. "Also I believe you have been misinformed, yellow means slow down and stop, not speed up to get through before it turns red." The driver simply giggled in response as she flipped her dark hair off of her shoulder.

"And you're too uptight. This is an unused road and the weather's good, a few extra miles per hour isn't going to hurt any. This isn't my first time behind the wheel, I know how to drive. My mother taught me how and she's an excellent driver. Just sit back and relax, enjoy the ride," she instructed before blowing a bubble in her gum, the annoying popping quickly getting on his nerves.

"I find that hard to believe if this is how she taught you to drive," he replied as she took a right turn at, at least, twice the speed she should have, causing the tires to squeal as she pressed down on the break mid turn, never letting up on the accelerator. "You know, even race car drivers know to slow down at turns, not speed up and press the break at the same time. You are killing the poor car."

"Man, you really need to chill out and mom really is a good driver, she doesn't drive anything like me. She drives five miles under the limit, makes complete stops at stop signs, never goes through yellow lights and always stops well before crosswalks," she informed him before flipping her dark hair over her shoulder once again as she took another turn far too quickly causing his knuckles to turn white as he tightened his grip on the door.

"I do not need to chill out, what I need is to get home in one piece, now let up on the accelerator and learn to use the break already," he insisted turning his head to glare at the young girl who simply giggled again and continued to speed up. Gritting his teeth to keep from growling at her, least it scare her while driving, he turned his attention back to the incoming road, hoping no one randomly decided to start using this road.

"Jeez, we're not going to crash you know. I have been driving for a while now and still haven't crashed once. I told you, no one ever uses this road and I know it like the back of my hand. Though I've never really understood that expression, I mean really, how many people pay attention to the back of their hands? Let alone memorize them?" she inquired, taking her eyes off of the road to glance over at him causing him to become even more nervous than he was already.

"I am sure there is a reason for the expression, however, I am not aware of it. Now put your eyes back on where you are going. Or we really will crash," he told her, griping his handle even tighter, to the point he was afraid it would break off under the pressure. Rolling her dark eyes, she turned her gaze back to the road. After a few moments of silence had passed over them, she began to fidget in her seat, unused to the quiet.

Deciding she could no longer stand it, she reached down and turned on the radio, screeching when she heard what was playing. "I love this song," she informed him as if it mattered to her passenger. Singing along with the lyrics as loud as she could, she quickly had him wishing the car wasn't equipped with a radio. "You know, you two are really suited for each other," she told him when the song had finished, drawing his attention back to her.

"You're both boring and dull. That was a kick ass song and yet you seem like you have never heard it before. What rock have you two been living under anyways?" she wondered as she sped up through a yellow light, but before he had the chance to answer, if he was planning to anyway, a high pitch siren sounded off behind them quickly followed by flashing red and blue lights. "Oh lovely, why is he even patrolling out here anyways? No one uses this road."

Even as she continued to grumble under her breath, she began to slow the car down before pulling off to the side of the road. Rolling down her window, she reached across her passenger to grab her information out of the glove box before turning back just as the police officer arrived at her window. "License and registration, please," he requested as he shined a flashlight into the car, first into her face and then into his.

"Here you are, officer," she greeted him with a smile as she handed them over while subtly giving the man a quick once over. "Is there a problem, officer?" she continued, allowing her smile to grow until it encompassed her entire face. Remaining silent until he had finish checking to make sure the id belonged to her, the officer handed back her information before raising the flashlight back to her face.

"Do you have any idea how fast you were going?" he inquired in a deep, stern voice that reminded her of her passenger's voice.

"Why of course, officer. I was going 35 miles per hour, which unless I missed a sign, is the speed limit on this road. It didn't change on me without me noticing it, did it?" she questioned putting on her best pout as though she had been completely unaware that she had been going well over 45 miles per hour.

"Miss, you were not going 35, you were doing 50 in a 35 zone. I'm going to have to write you a ticket for this," he began only to be met with a case of well timed water works. Stuttering he turned toward the passenger for help, only to find him as unsettled by the tears as he was.

"But, it said I was only going 35," she insisted, in between sobs, as she pointed to her dash board. "I can't believe that stupid thing is broken. Oh why didn't I notice it before, I could have hurt someone," she whine a moment before beginning to bang her head on the steering wheel. "A ticket?" she questioned as she glanced back up at the officer after a moment, as if she just realized what he had said.

"Oh no, my father is going to kill me. When my sister got a parking ticket, he grounded her for months and she wasn't able to go to her prom. Oh no, I won't be able to go to my prom?" she questioned as if the officer had any idea of the answer. "But I already have my dressed bought and everything. It took me months of saving up to pay for it," she cried going back to banging her head on the wheel.

In no mood to spend the next hour trying to calm her down when he only had five minutes left of his shift, the officer decided to take pity on the poor girl. "I'll let you off with a warning this time, but get your speedometer looked at as soon as possible so this doesn't happen again. And drive at at least ten miles under what you think are going so you will be doing the speed limit," he instructed before bidding her a goodnight and heading back to his cruiser.

Turning back on her engine, she pulled out away from the curb, careful to go the correct speed as she continued heading home. Hearing nothing but silence from her passenger, she turned to him with a questioning look. "What?" she inquired after a moment before turning her attention back to the road. Once she was sure the police cruiser was no longer following her, she sped back up to over five miles over the limit.

"You barely got out of that ticket and yet you still speed? And what was that about your sister not being able to go to her prom? Last I checked, you don't have a sister. And who is this horrible father you were referring to?" he inquired, breathing a sigh of relief when he saw their destination appear before them.

"Oh that, I just said it cause it always gets me out of tickets," she explained with a shrug as she began to slow down and pulled into the drive way. Jumping out of the car the moment the engine was off and the emergency break was in place, she handed the keys to the woman waiting with a smile, before heading into the house without another word.

"She is your daughter, Kagome," the man accused after closing the passenger door and heading passed her on his way in. Confused, Kagome simply stood there in silence for a moment before jogging to catch up to him.

"That's not very nice, Sesshoumaru. I told you Rin drove like a lunatic. If you had just listened to me in the first place, you never would have had to go through that."


	8. All Hallows Eve

Title: All Hallows Eve

Author: Hairann

Theme: Dokuga Halloween Challenge 2010

Genre: Drama, Romance, Comedy

AU/CU: AU

Rating: T

Warnings: None.

Word Count: 4890

Summary: Sequel to Demon Park, aka chapter six of my Kagome Doll collection. Though this isn't actually using one of Weird Al's songs, I decided to add it to this collection anyways since the first story is a part of it.

Disclaimer: I do not own the song used in the original story, Jurassic Park, the movie the song was based off of or KitKat candy bars. I make no money from their use in this story.

* * *

"Good evening, Miroku, holding down the fort okay?" a soft voice called out, as its owner made her way toward the large gates leading to the entrance of the park, gaining the attention of the man currently working in the ticket booth. Realizing who it was, the attendant turned away from the customers in front of him and greeted her with a smile.

"Good evening, Miss Kagome. The fort holds itself really," he joked as he gestured toward the vast park behind him. "Kirara is getting closed to her due date so she's not letting anyone near their area again, but the others all seem to be in a good mood today," he explained, referring to the alpha female of the two-tailed cat demons. Who was, in fact, the very same one that had been pregnant the first time she had visited the park over a year ago.

"I'll stay clear of them. But I should head out, I'm running a bit late today," Kagome informed him as she glanced down at her watch. "If I doddle too much, you know who is going to have my hide," she half-joked before waving goodbye and continuing on toward the gate, which was quickly opened for her. Behind her, Kagome could hear others complain about her being let through, since she obviously didn't work there seeing as she wasn't wearing a uniform.

"She is our one and only holder of a gold membership card. As a life time member, she is free to come and go as she pleases," Miroku explained and was quickly questioned on how one could get a gold membership. "It's easy, all you have to do is buy a ticket every day for 365 days, rain or shine. Doctor Jinenji created the membership just for her after she had spent, well let's just say that it was a lot of money." Pausing, Miroku turned his attention to the family's teenage daughter.

"I'm sure I could give you a discount if you came to see me that often," he informed her with a smirk, causing the girl, who was two years his junior, to turn into a tomato. Whatever she, or perhaps her father, would have responded with, went unheard by Kagome as the gate closed behind her with an audible click. Making her way over to a cart off to the side, a plague with her name displayed proudly on the back, she climbed in, started the engine and began making her way deeper into the park.

Noticing a cool, autumn breeze was beginning to pick up, Kagome wrapped her sweater tighter around her shoulders and headed toward the fox 'cage'. Pulling her purse off of her shoulder, knowing it was safer to leave it in the cart in case they were in a mischievous mood, she quickly snatched up a handful of lollipops, put her purse under her seat and made her way toward the gate. Punching in the personal code that had been made for her, she pushed the gate open and made her way inside.

Already knowing what to expect, she continued on deeper into the attraction and headed to where she was sure they would be waiting. Sure enough, the moment she arrived in the small clearing, where she had first met them, Kagome spotted three little fox heads peaking out from the bushes. "Kagome!" they cheered together as they came out from their hiding places, each one crashing into her legs as they greeted her. "What took you so long?"

"How long are you staying?"

"Did you bring me any candy?" Seeing their eager faces, Kagome couldn't help but laugh as she gestured for them to sit down on the grass. Soon as they were situated, the three of them sitting in her lap, she passed them each a lollipop as she answered their questions.

"Sorry I am late, my brother Souta needed some last minute fixes to his costume and our mother wouldn't have been back in time to do them before he leaves to go trick-or-treating," she explained to Haru, handing him a cherry flavored one. "I can only stay for a few minutes, but tomorrow is my day off so I will have all day to visit with everyone. Which means I will hang out with you guys for a long time," she assured Chikako, as she handed her a blueberry one, knowing she loved the way they turned her mouth blue.

"And your question has already been answered, Shippo," she joked as she handed him the last one, a grape flavored lollipop, which he quickly unwrapped and began nibbling away at. "As an added bonus, tomorrow I will be able to bring you a lot of candy. Souta doesn't like sweets, just enjoys going out with his friends, so he usually gives me whatever he gets, other than the KitKat Bars, those our grandfather snags.

"But I need to be going. I have a few more stops to make and not much time to make them." Seeing their disappointed faces, Kagome felt bad for leaving them so soon, but knew she would be able to make up for it tomorrow. Giving them each a quick hug, she said her goodbyes before making her way toward the gate. As she exited the attraction, Kagome noticed another cart was making its way toward her and quickly climbed into hers to get out of their way.

Pulling back onto the rail that would lead her further into the park, Kagome paid little attention to the scenery she passed, already knowing every inch of the path by heart. Instead she turned her mind toward those she would find at the next attraction, wondering if it would not be better to go ahead and skip visiting them even though she had promised to. Kagome knew there was a very good chance they she would end up being detained there, just as she always was, and didn't want to risk angering the one she had really come to see by being even later.

But at the same time, she had stopped by to see them every day just like the others and didn't want to upset them by skipping them entirely. "Maybe I'll get lucky," Kagome sighed to herself as she made her decision and pulled up in front of the wolf demon 'cage'. As she went to step out, knowing they would sense her presence the moment she did, Kagome heard a loud crash followed by raised voices coming from within the exhibit.

Not entirely unused to the noise, Kagome sat in her cart for a few moments of silence, waiting to see if the fight would end once they noticed her, as it sometimes did, or if it would continue on giving her an excuse to leave. Then, as she heard Ayame's screeched 'You pig demon!', which she knew was directed at Kouga, Kagome knew it was safe for her to leave unnoticed. Ayame only used that insult when her mate had been trying to hook up with another female and the last thing they needed was for her to add fuel to the fire as Kouga would no doubt insist upon her being his woman.

Starting back down the rail, Kagome quickly posted a bulletin on the cart's computer informing all of the guides that visiting the wolves was not advisable. Once finished, she turned her attention back to where she was going, reaching under her seat to grab a few books out of her purse. It did not take much longer for the cart to reach its destination and pull off to the side, allowing Kagome to get out once again. The moment she took a step toward the gate, she could already see the miasma appearing on the horizon.

"Here we go again," Kagome moaned as she took a deep breath and made her way over to stand in front of the gate, placing the books behind her back as she did. Soon enough the cloud was upon her, stopping just on the other side of the fence, and revealing Naraku as it began to dissipate. "Good evening, Naraku, are Kagura and Kanna around?"

"What's behind your back?" Naraku demanded, completely ignoring her question as he trained his red eyes on where her arms disappeared behind her back. Not really wanting to answer him, knowing it would lead to problems, Kagome remained silent, which only served to annoy him. "What is it you try to hide from me?" he interrogated as he turned his darkening eyes back to hers and pinned her with threatening stare.

This was not the first time he had tried something like this and Kagome knew very well what he was trying to do. Though the force field around the gate served to prevent most of his powers from endangering the visitors, there was one that was able to penetrate to the other side. It was in fact the reason that none of the guides that came near him had a code to open his gate. If the mind was weak enough, Naraku was able to read whatever they were currently thinking about.

Thankfully he was unable to read past thoughts, but it was not difficult to get someone to think about what you want them to. You simply need to ask the right questions, something Naraku had no problems accomplishing. "You know that no longer works on me, Naraku. Not after the first time you did that. Read my mind all you want, you will merely hear about what I had for breakfast," Kagome informed him, careful to keep repeating what she had eaten that morning mentally even as she spoke to him.

Him reading her mind was not something she wished to ever experience again even if the information he had gotten from her was completely irrelevant. All he had learned was she was afraid of him, it wasn't really something she had tried to hide, so him knowing the truth mattered little to her. The problem was how it felt when he read her mind, it was as though she could feel his hand inside her head, touching her brain and the thought alone was still enough to give her the shivers.

"I'm short on time today, Naraku, so I do not have time to banter with you for a while. I just stopped by to drop something off for Kagura and Kanna. Are they around?" she inquired again, knowing the change of subject would make it impossible for him to learn what he wanted to know and would no doubt annoy him to no end. It was in fact the only reason why she did the books behind her back, they were only a book on black holes for Kanna and one on philosophy for Kagura, but not knowing would drive him crazy.

It was Kagome's pay back for him having read her mind. Before he had the chance to answer, the very demons she was looking for arrived and Kagome turned toward them with a smile, effectively ignoring Naraku. "Hello Kagura, Kanna. I have something for you," she informed them as she moved in their direction and produced the books, careful to keep them out of Naraku's line of sight for as long as possible. Carefully opening a small, secured chamber that the park used to pass things to those on the other side of the fence, Kagome placed the books within it and closed it, allowing Kagura to open it on her side.

Giving her a slight nod of appreciation, Kagura removed the books, handing Kanna hers, before disappearing on her leaf once again. Kanna soon followed after, leaving Naraku to continue wondering what had been given, as he had still yet to see what had been behind Kagome's back. "Have a nice day, Naraku," Kagome called over her shoulder even as she was turning and heading back toward her cart. Without bothering to wait for a reply, she got in and began on her way again.

Not far down the road, she was pulling over again and waiting within her cart for the sound she knew would come. Soon enough, she could just make out a splash and knew the solitary imp demon would be making his way toward the gate to greet her. Well if you could call it a greeting anyways. "What have you brought to bribe me with today?" a gruff voice inquired a moment before its owner appeared just on the other side of the fence.

"I told you before, Jaken, they're not bribes. They are gifts," Kagome corrected as she reached into her purse under her seat and pulled out a clear, glass jar, holding it up so he could see its contents. Instantly his large, yellow eyes became impossibly big and he was gesturing for her to come closer. With a chuckle, Kagome did so, punching in the code to his gate before entering and handing over his treat. It took him only a second before he was opening the lid, reaching his hand in to grab one and quickly closing it again before the others could escape.

Kagome made sure to blink at the exact moment he shoved the still alive fly into his mouth, both because the idea of eating flies turned her stomach and because he found it rude when people watched him eat. "I thank you. They are superb," he complemented before placing the jar within his clothes, where Kagome could only assume was a hidden pocket, and bowing his head slightly to him. "Will that be all?" Jaken demanded after a moment had passed.

"Yes Jaken, that is all. Have a nice day," Kagome replied with a soft chuckle, still getting a kick out of his antics and used to his behavior after over a year of meetings, as she turned back and began making her way back out of the gate and toward her cart. Behind her, she could hear his mumbled goodbye as he too turned and no doubt began making his way back toward his pond.

Back in her cart, she continued on down the road toward her true destination. Anxious to see the demon, who over time had become her closest friend, Kagome counted down the posts lining the fence, each one marking the passage of five yards, as her cart drove by them. When she reached the final one, she smiled softly to herself as she pulled over and climbed out. Even as she did so, she could already hear the excited barking of one of the park's youngest inhabitants from just on the other side of the gate.

Glancing up, she found the bundle of white fur barreling on down toward her. As she began to punch in the code and saw him sitting there impatiently wagging his tail, Kagome couldn't help but giggle softly to herself. "Well good afternoon, Inuyasha. Did you miss me?" she inquired passing through the gate. He answered by jumping onto her and knocking them both to the ground before attacking her face with his long, wet tongue. "I give up, you win," Kagome laughed as she tried to shield her face from the assault.

"Enough pup. Let the poor girl breath," a deep voice instructed, drawing both of their attention away from each other. As Kagome turned toward the sound, she found the eldest dog demon standing just a few feet from her in his human like form. "He knows your scent well," he paused to help her to her feet once the pup had released her. "Inuyasha noticed your arrival before even I had."

"It's probably because he was already waiting for me," Kagome half-joked as she dusted herself off and moved to scratch the pup's head. "How are you and your mate doing today, Toga?" she inquired, turning her attention back to the elder dog demon. Though she could not see her, Kagome was sure his mate was not far away, no doubt, still in her natural form as she had been every time she had visited. It apparently had something to do with her staying in that form to allow her pup to bond.

"We are both fine and appreciate your inquiring. I will take over watch of the pup now. I am sure you wish to continue on to my eldest," Toga pointed out, grinning slightly when Kagome answered with a slight blush. "He is not far off. I suspect that he too, was waiting for you. He should find you once you have entered the trees," he explained as he gestured to the forest behind him.

"Alright, but before I go," she began as she reached into her purse and turned back toward Inuyasha. "I brought you something." As the pup wagged his tail and barked in anticipation, Kagome laughed and held out a small, rawhide bone for him, which he quickly snatched from her fingers and disappeared into the woods nearby. "I'll stop by and visit some more before I leave," Kagome informed him with a smile and a quick bow of respect before heading in the direction he had indicated.

Behind her, Toga followed after her with his golden gaze for a moment before turning his attention back in the direction his younger son had taken. Knowing he could get a good distance rather quickly, considering his size, Toga took off after him so he could catch up before Inuyasha got too far ahead. Glancing down at her watch and realizing just how late she was, Kagome picked up her pace and quickly disappeared into the forest. "You are late," a voice called out, startling her, just as she passed through the treeline.

"And you are impatient, Sesshoumaru," she countered as she turned toward him with her hand resting over her thundering heart. "Though I do apologize for my tardiness, Souta was having problems with his costume and I needed to fix them before I left. But enough about that, I did not come here to talk about my family, but to spend time with you. So tell me, what have you been up to since yesterday?" Kagome questioned as she moved in his direction, falling into step beside him as Sesshoumaru began heading deeper into the forest.

Sesshoumaru remained silent for a long moment, opting instead to pay attention to where he was walking as he wondered whether or not he should tell her the truth. Deciding talking to her about his thoughts from the previous day might help to calm his anxiousness, Sesshoumaru answered, "Wishing I were free of this place and preventing myself from tearing it down in my attempts to escape."

"I know you wish to be free, Sesshoumaru, and I wish it for you too, but you must give me more time. Doctor Jinenji agrees with my idea and is doing everything he can to get approval for intergrading you into the human population as a trial run for all of the demons here, but many of the votes he needs are from people who were against creating the park in the first place. You must give him more time, you know what will happen if you escape," Kagome began as she stopped and grabbed onto his arm to prevent him from going any further either.

"People will begin to fear for their lives from the demons. They will plead their cases to the higher ups who will in turn lean on Doctor Jinenji until he breaks or they find a legal way around him. When that happens they will kill every demon in the park including your baby brother."

"You do not understand, Kagome, I do not mean to say that I am refusing to wait, but that I will soon no longer have a choice. Before long I will reach my maturity and at that point, I will destroy this park in my attempts to escape. Unless I am able to take a mate, my coming of age will mark the end of everything," he insisted as he turned away from her, pulling his arm free of her hold, and starting again in the direction they had been going.

"You're right, Sesshoumaru. I don't understand. What does you reaching maturity have to do with anything?" Kagome inquired utterly confused as she moved to catch up to him and fell in step beside him once again. This was not the first time she had heard a demon speaking of their coming of age, but she had never heard of it spoken in such a negative light.

"It is written within our instinct, what you humans refer to as DNA, that once a white dog reaches their coming of age, they must take a mate. It is to ensure the continuance of our clan. If we do not do so quickly, we will be met with constant, excruciating pain. The pain will eventually drive us insane. We had hoped that Doctor Jinenji would have introduced another white dog female by then, but he has been unable to and now it is too late to wait for one.

"Not that it would matter anyways. In our prime, the white dogs had limited numbers, at the end even fewer. It is unlikely that he will ever find another useable source of our DNA to create another one of us, even less likely that he will find a female. And though I would not, even if I were able to, a white dog can not mate with his own blood. My coming of age is within a few days and I will go insane with in another week."

"That doesn't make any sense. Doctor Jinenji said you shouldn't reach your maturity for years," Kagome insisted, remembering the conversation she had with him a few months back when she had first broached the topic of intergrading Sesshoumaru. At first he had been against the idea until he had reached adulthood, worried he might be unstable in midst of his 'teenage' development, suggesting they waited for him to become an adult in about five years.

"The process that allowed him to create us, increase our speed of aging until we reach our maturity, which Doctor Jinenji is well aware and was in fact intentional. But he miscalculated the time. He wrongly believes that all demons age at the same rate. White dogs are one of the fastest aging, but only until we mature. Once there we will revert back to aging as we were meant to, with or without his process," Sesshoumaru explained before raising his nose to the air and giving the breeze a quick sniff.

Kagome watched in silence for a few moments as he did so, following after him as he changed directions and continued on his way. "Can you not just mate with one of the females from the wolves or fox demons? They have plenty and both are members of the canine family," Kagome suggested after a minute had passed, even as she herself hated the idea, but if it would save him from going through what he described, she knew it would be worth it.

"Do you know of the creation of demons?" Sesshoumaru questioned, continuing when she shook her head no, "The very first, the sires of our race, were created when the Kami mixed the souls of humans and animals. Animals do not interbreed, just as we can not." Another minute passed in silence as Kagome thought over his words, filing away the beginning of demons to think about another time, before she finally responded to what he had said.

"But what about your other half? You basically just said your ancestors were half animal and half human, could you then not mate with a human? It shouldn't be interbreeding right? Since you already have human somewhere in your DNA. And, if so, surely there is at least one woman in the entire world that you would find worthy of being your mate," Kagome insisted causing Sesshoumaru to stop and turn toward her with an eyebrow raised in question.

"You really believe your leaders would allow for such a thing?" Sesshoumaru inquired, his tone clearly stating he did not believe it was a likely outcome.

"Probably not, but we wouldn't have to tell them would we? You could simply mate in secret once you found someone worthy," Kagome offered with a shrug of her shoulders as she glanced around and quickly recognized the area they were in. They were getting close to their destination and after getting her barrings, Kagome continued on toward their special place.

"It is not a question of finding one I would see as worthy, it would not be a difficult task. The hard part would be to find one willing to mate with me," Sesshoumaru explained, as he began walking again, quickly overtaking her place in the lead.

"There must be someone. It what, three billion woman on this planet, there has to be at least one both good enough in your eyes and willing." Crossing the threshold into the clearing, where Sesshoumaru had taken her the first day they met and every day since, Kagome seated herself beside his preferred tree and waited in silence for him to do the same.

Soon he had seated himself next to her, resting his hands on his knees as he leaned back against the trunk and let his gaze wander out into the seemingly endless forest that surrounded them. "I suppose that would all depend on whether or not you would be willing to be my mate, Kagome," Sesshoumaru told her, refusing to look in her direction even though he could feel her eyes burning into the side of his face.

"You would actually see me as worthy of being your mate?" she questioned so softly that Sesshoumaru almost missed it, and probably would have had he not been a demon with exceptional hearing, causing him to finally break his stare and turn his golden eyes in her direction.

"That is not the question, Kagome, the question is whether or not you would see me as being worthy of being yours."

"Sesshoumaru, the answer would be yes in a heart beat. I could think of no one better to spend my life with," Kagome assured him softly as she reached up to gently caress his pale cheek with her hand, watching as his eyes closed at the sensation.

"But I am not asking you to spend your life with me, I am asking you to spend mine. Though my aging is sped before I become of age, once I hit maturity it will take years before I look a day older. Centuries before I look a year older. And it will take a millennia before I reach the next stage in my life, that of an elder. What I am asking you, Kagome, is if you are willing to spend the next 1,000 years with me," Sesshoumaru explained, refusing to open his eyes even if he his rest his larger hand over hers.

"Sesshoumaru my answer remains the same. I can not tell you if I fully grasp what it would mean knowing that I would live to see everyone I have ever known, will ever know, dying. Those that are human anyways. I do not know how it will effect me psychologically or emotionally. Nor do I know if I will one day come to regret my decision.

"What I do know is that I would regret it at this very moment if I was to choose a different path. I know that each year and each century I would have with you, I would consider a blessing. And I know that if I ever did come to regret my choice, it would not be for many, many centuries. You are my best friend Sesshoumaru, I both love and am in love with you. I would be honored to spend your life, and mine, with you."

Opening his golden eyes, Sesshoumaru found himself staring into hers, not a hint of uncertainty to be found. For a long while, neither of them spoke or blinked as they gazed into each other's eyes, until finally Sesshoumaru closed the distance between them as he pressed his lips against hers. Though it started soft and sweet, the kiss quickly swelled with passion, stealing the breath of both parties. Finally breaking apart, Sesshoumaru rested his forehead against hers as they tried to catch their breath.

"And I, I would be honored to spend my life, to share my life with you, Kagome." As he said this, Sesshoumaru wrapped his arms around her and pulled her tightly against his chest, burying his nose in her hair. Resting her head against his chest, Kagome couldn't help but smile softly to herself. This was definitely one All Hallows Eve that she would never forget.


	9. Nihonjin kanojo boshuchu

Title: Nihonjin kanojo boshu-chu

Author: Hairann

Theme: Hairann's Weird-ified Challenge: Good enough for now

Genre: Comedy

AU/CU: AU

Rating: T

Warnings: Implied nudity (without adult situations), few swear words

Word Count: 29,873

Summary: Sesshoumaru decides to place a want ad to find a date for his brother's wedding.

I do not own the song Good enough for now, Weird Al does. I also do not own Windows, Microsoft does.

AN: This story actually came to mind when I was reading the tag of a shirt my hubby got for my birthday back in '10. What it translates to is 'Now accepting applications for a Japanese girlfriend'. Yes my hubby bought it for me lol. I've actually been working on this story since I finished my last piece for the contest, but it wasn't a top priority so it took a couple of years to finish.

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"They can not be serious," a man grumbled to himself in a deep, husky voice as he reread the invitation for the third time. He just could not believe they really expected him to follow their commands, his parents or not. "Do they really believe that I, Sesshoumaru, would bend to their will simply because they instructed me to?" he questioned the small slip of paper, not for a moment caring that it could not answer him.

"Mr. and Mrs. Konoe request the honor of your company at the marriage of their son, Inuyasha Konoe, to Kikyou Matsuki, on Thursday, the 11th of October, 20** at two o'clock in Tokyo. Reception to follow," he read out loud to himself; skipping over the address of the shrine since he knew it by heart. His family had gone to it since the time of his grandfather. Now it wasn't the invitation itself that bothered him, he had been expecting it ever since he heard of his younger brother's engagement six months ago. It was not the day or time or even the place that annoyed him.

It was not even the fact that what he knew about the woman made her sound like a gold digging bore, that royally pissed him off. No, it was the hand written note at the bottom of the invitation from his mother, judging by the hand writing, that had put him in a foul mood. "If you come without an escort again, like you did at your cousin's wedding, I will set up a date for you. I believe that lovely girl, Yura Washio, is still available."

Not about to let his mother set him up on another date, especially with Washio as she was more obsessed with his hair than he was, not to mention the disaster the reception of his cousin Miroku's wedding had turned into with the date she had set up, Sesshoumaru tossed the invitation aside and picked up the small card that came with it. Under the words 'repondez sil vous plait', he printed his name and wrote 'plus one' next to it.

Quickly putting it back in the return envelope provided, he filled out the information, stuck a stamp on it and placed it in his 'out' box for his assistant to mail out later. Grabbing a memo pad from his desk drawer, he wrote out what he would require in his 'date', his penmanship graceful and flawless. Double checking his schedule to make sure he did not have any appointments for a while, he placed his pen back in its holder and made his way out of his office.

Ignoring the greeting from his overly perky assistant as he passed, he headed toward the elevator, pressing the down button. Waiting patiently for it to arrive on his floor, he stepped into it after the door had dinged open. As it closed, he pressed the button for level three and ignored the soft, classical music playing in the background. Soon enough he was stepping off, making his way down the long hallway before him.

Stepping through the threshold, Sesshoumaru paid no attention to the sign announcing 'Layout Department', and quickly scanned the room for the person he had come to see. Spotting them, he made his way over, his target noticing him at the same moment. "Damn it, Sesshoumaru. What's wrong with the layout this time?" an exhausted voice demanded as its owner threw the stack of photographs, they had been arranging, over their shoulder.

"What? Nothing is wrong with the layout, Miroku. I have something I want you to add. It is pretty small so you should not have any problems fitting it in," Sesshoumaru insisted as he finished closing the distance between them and headed over his hand written note. Heaving a sigh of relief, as his team had already been up all night rearranging the layout for this week's newspaper for the fifth time, Miroku accepted the note and quickly scanned it.

"It's in Japanese, we only print in English, Sesshoumaru. And is mine rusty or am I reading this right?" he questioned after reading it for the second time before glancing back up at his cousin. "As strange as it sounds, did you want me to translate it? And why do you want to run this? Can't get a date any other way?" he mocked giving him a smug look which quickly disappeared when Sesshoumaru glared at him.

"Print it as it, in Japanese. I have two weeks to get a date for Inuyasha's wedding and no time to search for one. This will have to do. Do not, under threat of death, print my name with it. Just the phone number listed, it is for my extra cell so no one knows it. And anymore wise cracks out of you and I will wallpaper this entire building in pictures of your bachelor party, cousin," he threatened emotionlessly and knowing he was completely serious, Miroku wisely let the matter drop.

"Alright, I've got a place I can stick this; page sixteen. We had a personal pull out a little while ago so there's a free space. Did you need anything else? If not, I need to get back to this layout or I'll never get your changes done before the dead line," he none too subtlety mentioned as he began gathering up the photos he had thrown, trying to remember the order they had been in before his fit.

"That is all," Sesshoumaru dismissed him before turning and making his way back out of the layout room. Having no other work requiring his attention, and not really in the mood to deal with his chipper assistant, he opted instead to push the down button once he arrived at the elevator, rather than going back up to his office. Stepping inside, once the doors had dinged open, he completely ignored the blatant lusty smile from the woman exiting.

Closing his golden eyes so he wouldn't have to see her before the doors closed, as he knew she would turn back to get one last glance at him, they always did, Sesshoumaru let off a sigh of relief as the metal box began to descend. When it stopped, he stepped out into the parking garage and made his way over to his new, but cheap, four-door. Though he had enough money to buy a fancier car, he found that they attracted too much unwanted attention.

Climbing in, he started the engine, pulled out of his parking spot and made his way toward the exit. Nodding to the security guard that waved him through, he pulled out onto the road and began making the quick journey home. Living only five minutes away from work definitely had its perks as soon he was pulling up in front of the building and making his way up the flight of stairs that lead only to his apartment.

Opening his door, and locking it behind him, he made his way into his bedroom, and grabbed his suitcase from the top shelf of his closest. Though he still had two weeks until the wedding, he knew his parents would insist he arrive at least a week early since he didn't visit them nearly as often as they would like. Putting in enough clothes that he would only need to wash them once during his trip, he made his way into his bathroom and started running the bath before grabbing his extra toiletries.

Tossing them, the current foreign novel he was reading and the next one on his list into his suitcase, Sesshoumaru zipped it up and placed it beside his door before making his way back into the backroom. Seeing it was full enough, he shut off the water and began stripping out of his suit, hanging it up on the back of the door to prevent it from wrinkling. Stepping into the tub, he laid back with a content sigh, closing his eyes to allow the day to be erase from his body and mind.

Just as the hot, steamy water was beginning to relax his muscles, his cell phone began to ring, its tone informing him the call was coming from the main house back in Japan. Knowing it was most likely his mother, Sesshoumaru glared at the phone for a moment, contemplating ignoring it. Before he could make up his mind, the call ended and he sat back against the end of the tub, smirking in satisfaction. It was short lived, however, as a moment later the phone began to ring again.

Growling softly to himself, Sesshoumaru reached for the phone, answering it with his custom, "Speak." On the other end, he could hear her speaking to someone in the background, his father by the sound of it, and fought the urge to remind her that it was rude to be speaking to someone else since she had in fact called him. After a moment, he decided it wouldn't be worth it as doing so would lead to one of two things.

Either he would get an earful from her about the proper way to treat one's mother or she would cry and he would get the same earful from his father. "Oh you answered," she realized, apparently turning her attention back to the phone. "I don't know why you couldn't just pick it up the first time I rang, I know you always keep your cell on you, Sesshoumaru. If I didn't know any better, I would think you were avoiding my call.

"But that's not what I rang you up for, so I'll let it go for now," she decided causing him to roll his golden eyes. Though he normally wouldn't stoop to such a childish gesture, it wasn't as if anyone was there to see him. "Did you get the invitation for your brother's wedding? It's in two weeks, but your father and I would like you to come up at least a week early. Knowing you, you'll take off back to New York the second your brother leaves for his honeymoon and give the rest of us no time to visit with you.

"By the way, do you have a date yet? I talked to Washio-san and she said that Yura-chan is available to be your escort for it. They were all invited anyways and poor Yura-chan doesn't have a date yet. Really I don't understand what fault you can find in her, she's a nice, respectable girl and she comes from a very well known family. And don't you dare treat her like you did that poor girl at your cousin's wedding.

"Whatever possessed you to push her into the fountain I will never know, but her parents still refuse to accept our apologizes. I swear your father and I raised you better than that, but I am getting off topic here. I'll let Yura-chan know to be available at least a few days before the ceremony so you can take her out and get to know her better. Oh, I can make you some reservations at this nice, little French restaurant that opened up. It's very quaint."

"Mother, before you start planning our wedding, may I intervene?" Sesshoumaru inquired, worried that was where she was heading if he allowed her to go on for too much longer. After receiving a go ahead, he continued, "I have received the invitation and the RSVP card will be mailed out tomorrow. I do not need an escort, I already have one. I set it up when I first learned of Inuyasha's engagement and will not be needing the company of Washio-san.

"As far as the girl from Miroku's wedding goes, I dare not repeat what she said, but I assure you that you would have done the same as I had you heard her. And mother, I am quite capable of finding my own dates, I would very much appreciate if you did not try to set me up in the future. I do realize you have my interests at heart, however, we do not agree on preferences. And father is better off without her parents accepting an unnecessary apology as her father was embezzling money from his company.

"Surely if I have heard news of it out here in the States, you have as well. I also will not need you to set up places for me to go while there, though if you want to suggest some places, that is perfectly fine, however, I do not need my mother to set up reservations for me. I already have enough clothing packed to last me a week, having figured you would request my presence for longer than just the wedding.

"That is as long as I can take off since, as editor, I need to be back before the layout for the next addition goes to print so I can double check it. Oh and mother, I was not avoiding your call. I am in the bathtub. Now the water has grown cold and I need to get out before I get sick," he fibbed, knowing a worry wort such as herself wouldn't dare take the chance. "Once I have my itinerary all settled, I will give you a call and let you know."

"Very well Sesshoumaru, I look forward to seeing you again and meeting your girlfriend. Judging by your father's smile, so is he. By the way, you didn't say what her name was? What does she do for a living? Any talk of marriage yet? How long have you two known each other? Been dating? Does she need help picking out her dress for the wedding? Oh I could go shopping with her, I didn't get to help Kikyou-chan pick out her dress since she had her mother helping her."

Rolling his eyes once again, Sesshoumaru fought the urge to groan. "Mother, I really must be going. I assure you, I will answer those and any other questions you have about her later. But for right now, you simply need to be patient. Tell father I said hello and I will speak to you again in a few days. Have a good night, mother," Sesshoumaru bid her as he pulled the phone away from his ear and quickly searched for the off button.

"Oh alright, Sesshoumaru. I love...," she began only to be cut off a moment later when Sesshoumaru hung up his phone. Glaring down at the offending object, he began to question his sanity for buying the thing in the first place before placing it on top of the clothes hamper and relaxing back in the still hot water. Closing his golden eyes, he allowed the water to wash away the stress from his day and his mother's call only to be interrupted once again.

Turning to glare at the ringing phone, Sesshoumaru, for just a moment, wished his mother was there so he could smack her. Then figured if he did that, he would have to hit himself for not thinking to turn it off in the first place. Taking a deep breath, he picked up his phone and hit the talk button, instantly wishing he hadn't. "That should have been enough time to get dressed, right? I remember something after we had hung up and I figured I would give you some time before I called back.

"Inuyasha wants you to be his best man and already has a tuxedo picked out for you. You'll need to do a fitting once you get here, but everything else will be taken care of for you. You will be walking Kikyou-chan's little sister, Kaede-chan down the isle, since she's the maid of honor. Oh, I forgot to tell you they were having a Western wedding, didn't I? As much as your father and I were really hoping for a traditional, they insisted on a Western style.

"Be ready for it when it's your turn to get married, I'm sure your father will insist his heir has a traditional wedding. Her family are traditionalists, right? Will her parents be coming to the wedding as well? If not, will we be able to meet them soon? Do they live out in the States with you or are they back here in Japan with us? I should get their number so I can give a greeting call and maybe set up a meeting if they are here in Japan. Do you have their number there with you now?"

Unable to comprehend how she had gone from informing him about being the best man to talking about his own wedding to a girl who doesn't even exist yet, Sesshoumaru stared down at his phone in silence for a moment before putting it back to his ear. "Mother, please stop trying to set up wedding plans when I am not even engaged yet. When and if the time comes, we can go over all of your questions, but for the moment, you are getting way ahead of yourself.

"I will make sure I set enough time aside to go in for a fitting during the beginning of my stay. Anything else we can go over in a few days when I call you back, but for right now, I really do not have time to talk, mother. Now I really must be going. I will talk to you again in a few days. Can you please put father on for a few moments?" he requested, figuring getting the aid of his father was probably his best bet for getting a break from her.

After a moment, he could hear his father getting on the line and breathed a sigh of relief that she didn't decide to protest. "Good evening, father, may I request you keep mother from calling me once more thirty seconds after hanging up again? I do not have any further answers to her questions and have already promised to call back in a few days. I have work to do and will be unable to get it done if she keeps calling. Not to mention, I will not be able to take time off if I can not get a head in my work."

"I understand son, I will do as you have asked. Make sure you get everything done that you need to. Have a good evening, Sesshoumaru," his father bid him before hanging up on his end. Making sure to turn off his phone this time, Sesshoumaru set it aside and leaned back into the tub, hoping to finally get the chance to relax only to find his bath water had gone cold. Growling softly under his breath, he sunk under the water, letting off a scream of frustration.

Monday morning's sunrise met Sesshoumaru as he was sitting down behind his desk, grabbing the messages left by his assistant. "Your mother called to ask if you had received the wedding invitation. Your mother called again to say she forgot to mention that your brother wanted you to be his best man. She called for the third time to say she forgot to mention they were having a Western wedding. She called for the fourth time to tell me that she would be trying your cell phone.

"Then the fifth time to inform me that she talked to you at home and that she had already given you all of this information. Miroku called to confirm the placement of your ad in Monday's paper. Your brother called to make sure you received the invitation and to let you know that he wanted you to be his best man," Sesshoumaru read out loud to himself before tossing the slips of paper into his trash can. Grabbing today's addiction of their newspaper off of his desk, where his assistant left it, he sat back in his chair and opened to the personals.

Quickly skimming the ads, Sesshoumaru soon found the only one in Japanese and read through it to make sure Miroku had written it correctly. "Currently accepting applications for a Japanese girlfriend for a relationship that will last up to two weeks. Must speak Japanese fluently, have undyed hair, a natural body and come from a respectable family. Those seeking an interview, please call 1-212-XXX-XXXX."

Satisfied, Sesshoumaru set the paper aside and booted up his computer. As he waited for Windows to finish loading, his phone began to ring and, reaching into his jacket pocket, he pulled out his extra cell phone. Relaxing back in his chair, he hit the talk button as he raised it to his ear and commanded, "Speak." On the other end he could hear the high pitch giggles of someone trying far too hard to sound female. "Miroku, I do not have any objections to plastering the walls in those photos.

"I'm sure your co-workers, not to mention your wife, would love to hear how your stripper turned out to be a man, which you did not realize until you had taken him back to your hotel room. Bother me again and you will know that this is not an idle threat," Sesshoumaru warned him before hanging up without bothering to wait for him to confirm his identity as it wasn't really needed. As the phone rang again, he answered with another, "Speak."

"Yes, hello. I'm calling about the ad you put in this morning's paper. How about we jump right into the fees? What services are included? I don't mind a bit of making out, but if you plan on a full coarse I charge double. I will also require you to pay for all of my meals, lodging and clothing during the time we're together," she rambled on and figuring if he didn't stop her soon she never would, Sesshoumaru decided hanging up on her was the best coarse of action.

Praying the next call wouldn't be as big a waste of time as the last two, Sesshoumaru answered as it began to ring again. "Hello, I'm responding to your ad in this morning's paper. I meet all of your requirements with one exception, I have had some work done. However, it was a reduction, not an implant. May I ask why you require someone to act as your girlfriend for two weeks?" she inquired politely and Sesshoumaru grinned at her intelligence for asking the right question.

"I have a wedding to go to and if I do not bring a respectable enough date, my mother will try to set me up with another moron. I will only be there for a week, but require about a week in advance to get to know each other as my family will no doubt bombard us with personal questions. The second week will take place in Japan, but all of your expenses will be paid," Sesshoumaru informed her, thankful things looked like they would be easier than he had first thought.

"It's out of the country? Damn, I can't leave the country right now. I'm in a custody battle for my younger sister, Kanna. When our parents died a few years ago, she was put into foster care because I was only sixteen. I have a court date a little over a week from now and meetings before and after with CPS. I was thinking you needed someone on your arm for local dinner parties and such. I was really hoping to join you, I could really use the stress relief. I wish you much luck as I am sure you will probably get a few freaks calling you."

"I suppose that can't be helped and good luck with your court case," Sesshoumaru replied disappointed, as they said their goodbyes and hung up. Sighing, he leaned back in his chair, knowing it was going to be a long day. Hearing a knock on his door, he turned his attention away from the chances of him being able to get a respectable date this way in the short time he had, and called out, "Enter." Watching as his assistant made her way over, laying papers down on his desk, he gave her a quick once over.

Wondering if he should just borrow her for the couple of weeks needed, he paid little mind to what she saying, knowing it was no doubt the same things she said every Monday morning. Deciding he would have to fire her if she ended up learning too much about his personal life, and whatever childhood stories his mother happened to tell her, he figured it wasn't worth it. As much as she was too hyper for his tastes, it was the lesser of the two evils when compared to having to train another.

Watching as she bid him goodbye before making her way out of the room, he waited until she had closed the door behind her before turning his attention to the papers she had just dropped off. Most just needed a quick once over and his signature before he was able to toss them into his 'out' box. The others he put aside to be dealt with later as his phone began to ring again. Dreading who might be on the other line this time, Sesshoumaru answered with a curt, "Speak."

"Hello, my name is Kagome and I am calling about your ad in the paper. You're going out of the country during the two weeks, correct? That's why you need someone who speaks Japanese rather than English, am I right? If so, I guess the country you are going to is pretty obvious. Why do you need an escort and what sort of activities will be involved? Meaning like a party, a wedding or a family dinner. And tell me right now if you are planning anything nasty so I know to hang up on you."

Stunned for a moment by how fast the girl on the other end was speaking, Sesshoumaru simply sat there in silence before finally regaining control of his voice and replying, "Greetings Kagome, yes the two weeks will include one in Japan and one here getting to know each other. My younger brother is getting married and I am in need of a date unless I wish to be set up by my mother. As I have not had time to search the old fashion way, I was forced to go this route.

"I can assure you that I have absolutely nothing 'nasty' planned. There is the wedding and of course the reception afterward. Most likely a dinner with my entire family every night that we are there. My mother will no doubt wish to take my date out shopping at least once in order to pump her for information, hence the reason I've set aside a week to get to know each other. All of the expenses will be paid for including your tickets, hotel fare and spending money while we are in Japan."

"Hmm sounds interesting and I would like to make a trip back to Japan soon. But I would have to meet you first before making any decisions cause, no offence, but you could turn out to be a complete lunatic and I would hate to find that out after I had gotten on the plane. Any chance you are free for lunch today? I know this nice, quiet restaurant down town that would be perfect for a little meet and greet," Kagome informed him and after Sesshoumaru agreed, she recited the address before they said their goodbyes and hung up.

After walking the few blocks from where he parked, due to the lunch time traffic clogging up both sides of the street, Sesshoumaru pushed open the glass door to the restaurant, ignoring the accompanying jingle of the bells that hung from it. Taking a quick glance around the small, diner like restaurant, and quickly deciding it was not an establishment that he would normally go to given the choice, Sesshoumaru soon spotted the only single woman in sight. Figuring she no doubt had to be the girl he was meeting, he began to make his way over to where she was seated at a two-person table.

"Kagome I presume?" he inquired getting her attention and seeing her nod her head in affirmative, Sesshoumaru continued, "It is a pleasure to meet you. Let us get down to business." Taking his seat across from her, Sesshoumaru flagged down a nearby waiter and gestured for her to order first when he arrived at the table. After she declined ordering, he requested a coffee and turned his attention back to the girl in front of him.

"Before you begin," she interrupted just as he was about to speak again, raising her hand as she stood up in her seat. "I'll go get the real Kagome now that I can see you aren't some psycho and are actually pretty cute," the woman told him, a slight flirtation in her voice, before waving goodbye and making her way over to the counter. Resting her arms on the counter top, the woman stood on her tip toes as she leaned forward and peered over the edge. "It's safe, sugar."

"Thanks, Ayame," a soft voice replied, its owner giving a grateful smile as she stood up from behind the counter and dusted off her hands before turning to get her first glimpse of the man she was meeting with. Giving him a slightly apologetic smile, Kagome made her way around the counter and over to the table where she quickly sat down before gently biting her lower lip as she waited to see if he would get annoyed by her actions and leave. Seeing he seemed to be staying for now at least, she ventured, "Sorry about that, but you can never be sure of people nowadays."

"Think nothing of it, it matters not to me. In fact, your intelligence for thinking of such a thing is rather refreshing. Unfortunately, most women I have met would not have had the foresight to insure their safety in this manner. A simple phone conversation is not an adept way to get to know someone to the point of trusting them. But that is partly what this next week will be about, providing you decide to be my date for the wedding. Not only do you need to be able to trust me, but I with you as well.

"I come from a very prestigious family and there are certain standards that I must uphold, at least while I am back home. I do not mean to say that my family are elitists or anything of the sort, but there are certain requirements they will look for when it comes to someone dating me. One of the major ones is speaking Japanese, which is why I not only requested it, but ran the ad in it. Another is that you come from a respectable family, it does not have to be anything extravagant, but obviously no criminals. My family can not be thought to be tied to crime of any kind.

"Also you must have a natural body, no cosmetic surgery at all. From head to toe, you must be exactly as you were made to be. And this is a personal preference of mine that my family knows well about. If you let it slip that you, let's say, dye your hair, our cover would be blown and my mother would not stop until she married me off to someone she picked. I love my mother, but she has horrible taste in women. And I should point out that I normally do not speak much, I am a very quiet man unless angry and I judge, by our conversation on the phone, that you are rather talkative, correct?"

Trying to process everything he had just told her, Kagome remained silence for an entire minute before finally nodding to his question. "Yes, I can be quiet when I need to be, but usually I'm not. I'm a talk show host, so I'm used to talking a lot. And pretty much nonstop. Let's see, to answer your questions... I was born and raised in Japan and only came here after college, so my Japanese is perfect. My family is very respectable and my paternal grandfather is the current head priest of the Higurashi shrine. Which has been in my direct family line since it was built in the 1500s.

"Other than my French manicure," she paused to show her painted nails before continuing, "I'm completely natural. I have dyed my hair in the past, but not since high school and it grew out many years ago. If we both agree to this, have you decided what are back story is going to be? How we met? When we started dating? And I'm guessing, if she's anything like mine, your mother will probably want to meet my family and if so, can we tell them the same? My mother has been bugging me about dating more for years."

"We were introduced through a mutual friend at one of the dinner parties hosted by my work. The party was nine months ago and we have been dating for seven. I'll have exact dates later. If pressed, we can simply explain that we did not say anything about our relationship for so long because we were not sure it would last. My mother will want to meet your family and has already asked me about setting up a meeting. I believe it would be best to tell them the same thing, just so no one slips.

"There will be one person at least that knows we are not really dating and that is my cousin, he works in the layout department and is the one that ran the ad for me. But I have blackmail on him so he will not cause any problems. I will work on fine tuning some of our back story tonight and we can meet here again tomorrow, if that works for you. I realize it is a bit of a rush, but I would like you to make your decision by then. If you decide not to be my escort, I will still need time to find another.

"Here is my business card," he told her as he pulled it out of his breast pocket before handing it to her. "With that, you can check to make sure I am who I am and not, how did you put that, 'a complete lunatic'. If you decide to work with me, simply meet me here for lunch tomorrow, same time as today. If not, you can simply leave a message for me at the number on my card before then. Unfortunately we are out of time for now, I must be getting back to work."

Placing a couple of dollars, way more than his bill was worth, on the table for his untouched cup of coffee, Sesshoumaru bid her goodbye before rising to his feet and making his way back out of the restaurant. As much as he wished to know right then whether she would help him or not, he knew she would need a bit of time to check up on him. Making his way back to where he parked, Sesshoumaru climbed into his car and headed back toward his office, hoping to help pass the time by burying himself in work.

Back in the restaurant, three pairs of curious eyes watched his retreating back until he disappeared, before turning around and sitting down at the table he had just vacated, the third pulling up an extra seat. Reaching across the table, the only male of the group grabbed the business card from Kagome's fingers before reading it over. "I vote he's a fraud," he decided nonchalantly as he tossed the card onto the table in front of him. "I'm sure Mr. Sesshoumaru Konoe, editor of the York Daily News, would have no problem finding a date. Heck, he's probably dating two or three women already if he's real."

"Does seem a bit off, but you saw him, Kouga," Ayame pointed out as she waved her hand, as though she were gesturing to the man in question. "Did he look like the kind of guy that needed to make up some elaborate lie to get a date?" she demanded, stunning him into silence when he couldn't come up with a retort. "Exactly. Plus did you see his posture? I've seen statues that hunch more than that. Nope, I vote real deal."

"Why do I always get stuck with the tie breaker?" Kagome groaned, drawing their attention back to her as she sighed and laid her head down on the table top. "I should be heading home. I'll look him up on the internet and make sure his name and face match up like they should. I'll give you two a call first thing tomorrow to let you know what I decide," she assured them before standing and biding the two of them goodbye. As she opened the door, the bells chimed again marking her exit and glancing around, the others noticed they were called by a customer.

"Relax, Sesshoumaru. We have been over all of this already. I now know more about you, than I ever wanted to know about another human being. Besides, I am sure your mom is going to be too excited over the fact that you have a girlfriend to worry about grilling us to make sure our answers match. And since, I'm guessing the woman standing in that driveway waving is in fact your mother, you have officially run out of time to worry. Just act naturally and leave the rest to me," Kagome assured him with a smile as she patted him gently on the hand just as their car was pulling into the driveway.

Though it went against what she preferred, Kagome properly waited in the car until he had gotten out himself and opened her door for her. Drawing in a deep breath, she steeled herself for the week to come and turned back to the woman, whom Sesshoumaru was now introducing as his mother. "Konoe-sama, it is a honour to meet you. Sesshoumaru-san speaks of you highly," Kagome greeted as she bowed as deeply as she could to the older woman, switching to her mother tongue as he had done, only to find herself wrapped in a tight embrace a moment later.

"You just forget all about honorifics with me, why you're practically family," she insisted as she half let her go and began leading her into the large house. "Be a dear Sesshoumaru and bring in her bags as well," she called over her shoulder, not bothering to wait around long enough to hear his answer before ushering her over the threshold. "Rin! Rin, dear come down here!" she called out the moment they were inside, closing the door behind them as she lead the way into the den. Hearing the bouncy steps of a teenager coming up behind them, she sat them down on the couch before gesturing to the newer arrival in the room.

"This is my youngest, Rin and you can call me Fuu. Well tell us all about yourself, Sesshoumaru is so stingy with information. I could barely get a word out of him about your relationship, let alone about you. Where are you from? What does your family do? How did you two meet? Are there any plans on getting married yet? Are you guys planning on moving back home once you get married? I've never really liked Sesshoumaru being so far away, but I can not get him to move back. Maybe you can, if you tell him you want to move back."

Stunned into silence for a long moment, Kagome simply sat there staring at her as Rin sat down next to her mother. Finally regaining control of herself, she drew in a deep breath before smiling and jumping right in. "I am actually from here. My family lives about 20 miles from your home. I'm the oldest child in the current generation of the Higurashi clan, the guardians of the shrine of the same name. My younger brother is learning how to take over for my grandfather when it's time.

"We met back in January of this year at a dinner party hosted by the paper. A mutual friend introduced us, he was doing an interview with me about my show. We've only actually been dating for about seven months, so there is still no talk about marriage yet. Right now, I want to focus on my career since when I do get married and start having children, I plan on being a stay at home mother, as mine was. So I want to get my desire to be outside the home out of the way first.

"We haven't spoken about where we want to live either, though I would like to move back home once I settle down. I miss being around my family and I know, that when I do have children, I'll be needing my mother's guidance. But for right now, we are really just focused on our careers and getting to know each other. I assure you, you'll be the first one to know when we do begin speaking of the future," Kagome told her with a soft smile, figuring if the words work on her mother, as they usually did, they would work on his as well.

Judging by the bright smile she was rewarded with and the embrace that followed, she was correct. From just on the other side of the door, Sesshoumaru smirked in satisfaction to himself of the level of finesse, the woman he had picked, had shown in speaking to his mother. It was not easy to get her incessant questions to end, but she had done so in a way that not only pacified his mother, but helped create a bond between them as well.

Seeing Sesshoumaru give her a look of appreciation, Kagome graced him with a soft smile before turning her attention back to the older woman next to her. "Oh the children you two will have will be so beautiful," Fuu decided as she grinned, a very motherly grin, from ear to ear. Unable to stop herself, Kagome felt her cheeks blush red at the suggestion. "Just wait until my husband meets you, I doubt he will let you leave after the wedding."

Hoping she was joking, Kagome laughed with her before turning her attention to the younger girl, deciding to get the spot light off of herself for a while. "Sesshoumaru-san told me you were 16, right?" Kagome inquired, knowing she was correct but wanting to sound more realistic. Seeing her bob her head in agreement, she continued, "I remember when I was your age. Ah the joys of high school. What club are you a part of?"

"I'm captain of the tea ceremony club. I'm actually the first, first year to get the spot. My school has an escalator system so everyone already knew me from middle school and it allowed me to be voted as captain," Rin explained, obviously taking great pride in her position. "What club did you take part in?" Rin inquired after a moment and Fuu quickly nodded her head in agreement, apparently wanting to know the answer as well.

"I was a member of the archery, the broad casting and the flower arranging clubs," Kagome began only to be met with confused expressions. "I get that look whenever I tell people I was in three clubs during high school, it's not really done usually," she replied with a chuckle. "Archery met in the mornings and was the only one that had competitions to worry about. Broad casting only met during lunch and flower arranging was after school. So all three fit with my schedule and was the only way for everyone to get what they wanted.

"My grandfather wanted me to learn archery as a part of my heritage, even though my brother would be taking his place. My mother believes all women should know how to arrange flowers. And I wanted to broad cast. I've known since I was a little girl that I wanted to be a talk show host and it gave me experience toward that end. By doing all three, they were happy and I got to do what I wanted," Kagome finished with a smile, soon mimicked by the other two.

"And your grades? They did not suffer from the extra work load you placed on yourself?" Fuu inquired, continuing before Kagome had had the chance to answer her. "I suppose not if your family allowed you to continue all three. So I guess the better question is how you managed all of that? Rin's a very bright girl, but I worry about her grades considering her extra responsibilities as captain." The older woman opted to ignore the slightly annoyed look her teenage daughter was giving her.

"My grades were never really a problem. The only subject I had problems in was math and my younger brother is a genius when it comes to math. In fact, he's actually just a few years older than you and I'm sure he would be happy to tutor you if you have any problems with math. He's pretty good in other subjects as well," Kagome offered only to find herself second guessing the suggestion a moment later. Her and Sesshoumaru wouldn't be together for very long and she wasn't sure introducing the younger siblings was such a good idea.

Thankfully she was saved from saying anything further or hearing Rin's answer by Sesshoumaru entering the room. "Kagome-san, you should probably unpack now as things will probably get too busy once everyone starts coming home," Sesshoumaru warned, earning a grateful smile from his 'girlfriend' as she stood and bowed to her hostess. "I will show you the way," he offered, as he held his hand out for her and waited until she had taken it before leading her out of the room.

"Thanks," she whispered softly after they had begun climbing the stairs and she was sure they were out of hearing range. "I just realized it probably wasn't a good idea to try and set Souta up as Rin's tutor all things considered," Kagome explained before falling into silence as he nodded his head and lead her down a long hallway until coming to stop before a set of double doors. As he pulled them open, Kagome found herself staring into a large, expensively decorated room.

"This shall be your room for this week, mine is connected through that door," he explained as he gestured to a door off to the left of the room. "To get to mine, you have to go through our shared bathroom, but there should be no reason for either of us to need to be in the other's room. Simply lock the inside door when you occupy the bathroom and unlock it when you leave. Any questions?" he wondered as he turned back toward her and found her already beginning to unpack.

Seeing her shake her head, Sesshoumaru continued, "Tonight is going to be a large family dinner and it will test your patience. You will be meeting my brother and his fiancé, a woman I have not even met yet. Though a lot of the pressure should be taken off of us and put on them, there will no doubt be questions aimed at us. Also you will remember I mentioned a cousin who would be here that knows the truth, he arrives tonight.

"Though he won't openly expose you, he may try to bait you. If so, simply fend him off with that interesting wit of yours and you will be fine. If anything goes wrong or you are asked something you do not remember the answer to, simply take a sip of your water and I will answer in your stead. And whatever you do, do not drink too much wine. I don't mean to say that you normally would, but that my family will push it on you."

"Sesshoumaru relax," Kagome teased as she stopped what she was doing and began making her way toward him. "I know," she began only to pause for a split second when she noticed a shadow crossing the open doorway. Reaching up to gently caress his pale cheek, ignoring the raised eye brow he questioned her with, she started again, "I know you are nervous about me meeting your family for the first time, but you needn't worry so much, Sesshoumaru-san.

"Your family will love me just as you do and I am sure I will be able to handle meeting the others. Have faith in me." Hearing the code for someone else being around, her adding a suffix to his name, Sesshoumaru quickly realized what she was doing and gave her a nod of understanding before leaning down to gently kiss her temple. "Now I am done unpacking and I believe I hear your mother calling us, why don't we head downstairs," Kagome suggested as she turned, only to stop when she 'noticed' someone standing in the doorway. "Oh!"

Following her line of sight, Sesshoumaru spotted who had caused her to make the startled noise and gave him a slight bowing of his head. "Good evening, father. I was not expecting to see you until dinner. I trust your latest trip went well," Sesshoumaru inquired of the older man that looked very similar to himself. Noticing his father had yet to take his golden eyes off of the girl at his side, he added, "Father may I introduce to you Higurashi Kagome-san. Kagome-san this is my father, Konoe Akio-sama."

"It is a honor to meet you, Konoe-sama," Kagome greeted as she bowed as deeply as she could before rising again and keeping her eyes trained on the floor in front of her. "Sesshoumaru-san has told me many great things about you and the work you do. I am graced by your presence," she continued and had Sesshoumaru been one to laugh, he would have done so at that moment. He had warned her that his father's favourite thing was flattery. Apparently she had decided to lay it on as thick as she could.

"No need to be so formal my dear, as my lovely wife tells me, it should not be too long before we are family. Speaking of," Akio began as he took his eyes off of her for a moment to glance over at his son before turning back to her and stepping into the room. "How about I escort you downstairs while you tell me all about how my son has been behaving in the States," he suggested as he wrapped his arm around her shoulder and began leading her out of the room before she could protest.

Rolling his eyes at his father's actions, Sesshoumaru followed closely behind in case she needed his assistance. "I do hope my son has learned some proper manners and has not been a complete bore while with you. He does tend to be all business and can be rather boring for someone trying to date him," Akio insisted, shooting his son an annoyed look over his shoulder before turning his attention back to the girl he had his arm around.

"Oh no, Akio-san, Sesshoumaru-san has kept my interest quite well. Although I have seen him be all business around others, he does not treat me the same as those he employs. He is actually quite romantic and rather sweet when he wants to be," Kagome assured him, glancing shyly at her 'boyfriend' before turning away to hide a blush that wasn't there. Completely taken in by the act, Akio grinned proudly at his son before leading Kagome into the dinning room where others were already beginning to sit around the table.

"Ah you have arrived. You made good time, son," Akio commented, releasing Kagome and making his way to where his younger son was pulling out a chair for his fiancé. "I hope the trip was pleasant enough?" he prompted as he stopped before them, the two bowing before him before turning their attention simultaneously toward the two still standing in the doorway. Noticing their attention was no longer on him, Akio followed their gaze.

"Ah yes, time for introductions I see. Sesshoumaru, this is Kikyou-san, Inuyasha's fiancé. Sesshoumaru is my eldest son," he explained to his future daughter-in-law before turning his gaze back to the doorway. "Inuyasha, Kikyou-san, this is Kagome-san, Sesshoumaru's girlfriend. Now then, let's all take our seats." Deciding the introductions were over, Akio made his way to his seat at the head of the table and seated himself silently.

Used to his father's abrupt behaviour, Inuyasha gave it no more attention as he once more began pulling out the chair for his fiancé before taking the seat next to her. A bit out of sorts with what was going on, Kagome turned to Sesshoumaru for guidance and, with a gentle, barely there smile, he lead her to her seat and took his own next to her. Also around the table where Rin and Fuu, who had already been seated when the others arrived.

"So Inuyasha, how are the last minute wedding plans going? Have any problems arose since the last time we spoke?" Akio inquired as he turned his, and the entire tables', attention to the groom-to-be as he set his elbows on the table and rested his chin in his closed hands. After shaking his head no, Inuyasha turned to the rest of the table and explained to everyone that everything was going as planned and that the only thing left to do were a few last minute changes to the menu.

"Apparently there had been some mix up with the wine set to be served with the main course during the reception and we have to go down tomorrow to approve the new one that's been chosen. Thankfully Kikyou insisted on sampling the menu before the wedding or it would have been a disaster. One of Kikyou's relatives actually owns a winery in France and is very traditional when it comes to wines. He would have been outraged if things hadn't been corrected."

"Which would have been understandable. The wrong wine can completely change the flavor of a meal and you would not want your wedding remembered for the food tasting horrible," Akio insisted to his younger son before turning his attention back to his eldest once more. Sure he already knew what was coming, Sesshoumaru sat with perfect posture, his head slightly tilted up as if to dare his father to continue. "Speaking of weddings, will we be planning another soon?"

"It is far too early to think about marriage, father. Kagome-san and I have only been dating for seven months. That is hardly long enough to know if we wish to spend the rest of our lives together. You simply need be patient," Sesshoumaru insisted, ignoring the annoyed expression that appeared on his father's face for a moment. Deciding it would be best to get their attention off of his nonexistent future wedding, Sesshoumaru turned toward the woman at his side.

"Kagome-san, how about you explain to them your job. I am sure my father will find it rather interesting." Seeing the plea for help in his eyes, Kagome smiled reassuringly before turning her attention back to the rest of the family. Though he knew exactly what his eldest was doing, Akio decided to let the matter drop for now. There would be plenty of time during their stay to talk about future plans and he was interested in learning more about the girl who would hopefully one day become his daughter-in-law.

"As I mentioned earlier, Fuu-san," Kagome began as she turned to her for a moment, before turning back to the other side of the table, "I am a talk show host. Our program is called 'Our cross to bear'. As you may have guessed from the name, it is a show about religions. Each week I speak to a leader of a religious order. For example, for the pre-taped episode that will air later this week, I interviewed a Rabbi from a synagogue in New York. The day after I return, I will be interviewing an Imam from a well known mosque out West.

"That interview is probably going to be one of the most interesting since I will actually be wearing a niqab and in fact will not be speaking directly to him. Since I am an unmarried woman, and doing so would break the rules of his faith, when he agreed to do the interview, it was only if we had a man speak to him for me. Basically I will ask the third party a question, he will turn and ask the Imam. The Imam will answer him and he will answer me.

"To make things more proper, I guess would be the right word, even though the Imam speaks English, he's going to speak Arabic since I do not and it will be obvious to any watching that we are not speaking directly to each other. As I said, it is going to be a very interesting interview," Kagome repeated with a chuckle before turning to give Sesshoumaru a questioning look. A moment later he gave her the slightest of nods to let her know that he had approved.

"You don't find it insulting that you have to go through so much for a religion you don't even follow?" Inuyasha inquired, interrupting their silent exchange and drawing everyone's attention to himself. Seeing the disapproving look from his father, he quickly elaborated, "I don't mean that there is anything wrong with how they practice their religion. To each his own and all that, but to have to wear a veil and talk through a third person all because you are a woman. Doesn't that bother you?"

"Actually when I first started this show I was worried about problems like this coming up. There are many religions and cultures out there that expect their women to be, let's say, demure. And honestly I am not usually the 'sit quietly and look pretty' type, but at the same time, I can be when I need to be. My family are traditionalists and when I am at my family's shrine, I know that I must act the part. And I do so willingly and happily.

"Being a proper Japanese woman when I am here is a small price to pay for my grandfather's happiness, especially after all he has done for my family. When I am home in the States, I am free to be however, whoever I want to be. I see the show the same way. For those 30 minutes to an hour that I am interviewing someone, meeting their needs is worth the knowledge I get from spending time with them.

"And the moment the interview is over and I go home, I am free to be myself once more. So I do not actually find it to be a bother to have to fit in with their ways, but more like an honor that for the short amount of time, I get to walk in the shoes of so many different cultures that I could never begin to understand otherwise. Though, I believe it is one of those things you have to experience to really appreciate," Kagome insisted upon seeing Inuyasha's still confused face.

"Have you ever had a Shinto priest in for an interview? That is the religion you follow, correct?" Akio inquired and though his tone reflected no hostility, Kagome remembered a warning Sesshoumaru had given her before their trip. His family was completely traditional, including the religion of Japan's history and believe that anyone claiming to be traditional had to be the same. Luckily for Kagome, this was one part of their story she didn't need to fabricate.

"As I mentioned a moment ago, Akio-san, my family are traditionalists and the shrine my grandfather runs is Shinto, but to answer your question; no. I have not had the chance to interview a member of the Shinto religion yet for two reasons. First we wanted to wait a while to do my own religion to make sure my viewers and critics knew me well enough to know I wasn't playing favourites and also the priest I want to interview is my grandfather, but so far he has refused me."

"He refuses? Surely he would be honoured to be given the chance to teach others about his religion like that and with his own grand-daughter no less," Fuu insisted keeping everyone's attention on Kagome even though she had been hoping the conversation would drop then, it was still a somewhat sore spot for her and judging by the slight glare she was receiving from the bride-to-be, she did not like someone else taking her spotlight.

Considering she was the only one of the two of them that would actually marry into the family, Kagome decided it was only fair that she get the spotlight she wanted. Now all she had to do was turn the conversation back to them. "I broke my grandfather's heart when I told him I didn't want to be a priestess and was instead moving to the States after college," she explained before quickly turning her attention across the table before anyone could say anything more. "I have not heard, how did the two of you meet?"

Startled by the conversation suddenly switching to her, Kikyou seemed like a fish out of water for a moment before regaining control and giving Kagome a proper smile."We attend the same college and met during a sports meet that Inuyasha was participating in. He got thirsty during warm ups and bumped into me at the water fountain. After knocking the paint brush, I was carrying to the fountain to wash, out of my hands and onto my brand new dress, he offered to take me out for dinner to make up for it," Kikyou explained and Kagome couldn't help but smile.

That was the way you were supposed to meet someone; in such a way that it not only made a good story but was something you could never forget. "That is so sweet. What an amazing way to meet your future husband," Kagome honestly admired before quickly turning the conversation onto other things when she realized both of the parents looked like they were about to bring up a non-existent marriage again. "You mentioned a paint brush; are you an artist or was it for a school project?"

"I'm a painter. I do mostly landscapes and a few portraits. There is actually one I painted in the hallway upstairs if you would like me to show you after dinner," Kikyou offered and with a genuine smile, Kagome happily agreed. Before the conversation could go any further, they could hear the front door opening and people making their way into the dinning room.

"Ah Miroku, Sango-chan, how was your flight in? Not too long I hope," Akio greeted as all eyes turned toward the man and the, very, pregnant woman who has just walked in. As Kagome gave the woman named Sango a once over, she quickly decided there was no way she could have gotten on a flight; she was too far along.

"Remember Uncle? I told you a couple of weeks ago we had to come by boat and train because Sango is in her third trimester and can not fly. The only reason we were both able to make it was because she wants our baby to be born here where her mom can help her out," Miroku explained, not for the first time and he doubted it would be his last. His uncle had the tendency to have selective memory. If it wasn't about which ever child of his he was currently doting on, he wasn't likely to remember it.

"Right, right. I do remember you saying something to that effect," Akio assured him though none in the room believed for a moment that he had actually recalled that conversation. "Well don't just stand there; come and sit down," he instructed, gesturing to the only two seats that were still empty. As Miroku helped his wife to sit down before taking his own seat, Akio introduced, "Miroku, Sango-chan, this is Inuyasha's fiancé Kikyou and this is Sesshoumaru's girlfriend Kagome. Ladies, this is my nephew and his wife."

As a round of 'nice to meet you's began being passed around, Miroku turned his attention to Kagome with a smirk. "Actually Uncle, we have already met, haven't we Kagome-san?" he baited her, knowing full well that they had not had the opportunity to meet while they were still in the States. Unsure of how to respond, Kagome decided it would be best to take a sip of her water at that moment even though everyone was already looking at her and waiting for her response.

Easily noticing the predetermined signal, Sesshoumaru jumped in while she was unable to speak, "You sure you really want the family to know that she met you while you were dancing at an office party drunk?" As Miroku was well known for going passed his limit when it came to alcohol, Sesshoumaru knew that he didn't have to worry about them not believing him. And judging by the glare he was getting from his wife, even though she no doubt knew the truth, she was still not going to let him get away with it.

After a moment, Sesshoumaru figured it was probably for all of the times he had gotten away with his bad behaviour because she had yet to learn about it. Fortunately for Miroku, he was saved from any further questioning when the food was served. Shooting Sesshoumaru a glare over his plate, Miroku made a mental note to get back at him later.

Later that night as Kagome was pulling her shirt over her head so she could get changed into her nightgown, she didn't realize anyone was entering her room until she heard his hurried apology. Turning around after quickly throwing on her nightgown, she found Sesshoumaru standing there staring at the closed door; making sure to keep his back to her. "It's safe to look now, but would you care to explain exactly why you are coming into my room without knocking?" Kagome demanded though there was no venom in her tone.

"My parents have decided to try and play match maker, it would seem. They waited until I was heading to bed to tell me that the guest rooms are full of stuff for the wedding and they supposedly forgot to leave a room open for Miroku and Sango. So we are stuck sharing, but do not worry, I will be sleeping on the couch." After having explained this, Sesshoumaru moved to the other side of the room and laid down on the couch without waiting for her consent.

Though Kagome wanted to kick him out as she preferred to have her own space, she knew he would not try anything and his parents might think something was up if she was unwilling to share a room with a man she was supposedly it was best to just let it be, Kagome simply nodded her head before making her way over to turn off the light.

Once she saw that he had already laid down and had covered himself up, she turned it off and pulled back the covers before climbing into bed. As she drew the covers up to her chin, she could already hear Sesshoumaru beginning toss and turn on the couch. "You sure you don't want the bed? You are the taller one," Kagome pointed out as though he wasn't aware of his fact himself.

"I am perfectly fine here, this was your room and I do not wish to put my guest out by making them sleep on the couch. Just get some sleep, my mother plans to take you shopping tomorrow and it will prove to be a long day," Sesshoumaru warned her before rolling over and unknowingly mimicking her actions with his own blanket. Though Kagome knew his warning would no doubt prove to be true, she was finding it hard to fall asleep.

Not only was she in a strange home filled with people she barely knew, there was a man laying down only a few feet from her; in the same room. This was not something she was accustomed to and as she lay there awake staring at the ceiling, she wasn't sure she would ever be. Sighing Kagome rose from bed after a few minutes had passed, and she had grown bored, and made her was over to the window to look down over the back yard.

Feeling a chill coming from the cracks in the window, Kagome wrapped her arms around herself as she tried to stay warm. Completely lost watching the way the wind caused the branches to sway in the moon light, Kagome didn't notice another presence nearby until he started to speak. "Can't sleep?" Sesshoumaru inquired as he stopped right behind her.

More than slightly startled by the sudden noise so close, Kagome jumped clear off of the ground as she tried to spin around to face him only to lose her balance in the process. Fortunately for her, Sesshoumaru was quick to reach his arms out and caught her before she could hurt herself. "I apologize Kagome, it was not my intention to scare you," Sesshoumaru explained as he righted her; though he continued to hold onto her in case she lost her balance again.

"Sorry not used to there being another person in the room so I sort of forgot you were there for a minute and wasn't expecting anyone to come up behind me. I hope I am not keeping you up, I thought I was being quiet enough," Kagome insisted causing the man behind her to chuckle.

"You did not make a sound, Kagome. Much like with yourself, I am unaccustomed to having someone else in the room with me while I am sleeping. I suppose we should have tested it out back home so we would be more prepared for this as I truly should have seen this coming. I would not be surprised if the guestrooms aren't completely empty and my mother just used that as an excuse to try and push us closer together."

Since she didn't find such a thing all that hard to believe, and in fact was something her mother would do, Kagome ignored his comments about it being a set up and instead concentrated on his admission about himself. "You've never had anyone share your room? What about past girlfriends?"

"As I mentioned in the beginning, I have not had time to date. There has been no one to let stay over, but I could ask the same of you. Did you not have a past boyfriend stay the night?" Sesshoumaru countered, wanting to get the conversation off of his lack of a love life. He knew people thought it was strange that a man in his position wasn't dating, but he honestly didn't find it all that important.

"I haven't really dated since high school and really there is only one reason for a man to spend the night in his girlfriend's room and since that reason has never come up with my exes, it has never been an issue before. It may seem a bit old fashion, but I do not believe in, let's call it, 'spending the night' before marriage. And since I have never even been close to get married, none of this stuff ever really came up before."

"You know, I think you were the best woman to bring on this trip with me. You are a lot like me and it makes this whole thing much easier," Sesshoumaru told her as he turned her back around so they were both facing toward the window and laid his chin on top of her head as he wrapped his arms around to waist. Leaning intimately close to her ear just as she was about to demand to know what he was doing, he whispered, "My father is looking up at us from below. I am going to kiss your temple and go back to bed."

Just as he had said he would, Sesshoumaru placed a gentle kiss upon her temple before releasing her with a soft 'goodnight' and making his way back toward the couch. Wanting to give her heated face a chance to cool down, Kagome opted to stand at the window for a few moments more and out of curiously, she turned her glance down to the ground below, but could find no sign of his father. 'Guess he had already gone back in,' Kagome decided silently before finally turning away from the window and crawling back into bed.

...

Early the next morning, Kagome awoke with a loud yawn as she stretched out the kinks that had settled in her body during the night. The soft sound of rustling cloth reminded her that she was not alone and glanced over to the other side of the room to find Sesshoumaru still sound asleep; his blanket hanging halfway on the floor. Smiling softly to herself, she silently climbed out of bed and threw on her housecoat and slippers.

Certain no one else would be awake before dawn, she was a bit surprised to find Fuu already in the kitchen getting breakfast started. Noticing her arrival, the older woman couldn't help but smile, "No one else is ever up this early. Would you care to help me with breakfast?" Having nothing else to do besides sitting down somewhere by herself and waiting for Sesshoumaru to wake up, Kagome nodded her head before asking what she wanted her to do.

"If you wouldn't mind preparing the omelet rolls, it would really help me out," Fuu informed her, gesturing toward the bowl of eggs that was sitting in the counter beside her. Smiling softly at the gentle woman currently making miso soup, Kagome moved to stand next to her and began cracking eggs into another bowl. "So what are you doing up this early anyways?" she inquired, keeping her eyes trained on what she was doing.

"When I was growing up on the shrine, I always needed to wake up before dawn to help with the chores. Even though I've been living in the States for a while now, I still kept up the habit and usually clean my apartment in the early morning. I figured that when I come back to Japan to visit, my grandfather would be happier if I still wake up in the mornings to help," Kagome explained with a smile, mentally making a note to talk to Sesshoumaru about staying over at the shrine for one of the nights they were there.

"Such a filial child you are. Your mother and father must be so proud of you," Fuu commented and though Kagome knew it was genuine, she could also hear the unasked questions that it hinted toward. But as she thought about it, Kagome realized she didn't mind and was actually looking forward to talking about her family.

"Unfortunately my father died when I was really young and was unable to see the woman I became. To be honest, I never really knew him and do not miss him, but I think a lot of that has to do with how my mother raised my younger brother and I. She was both mother and father to us; teaching me about makeup and boys and teaching my brother about sports and how to treat girls.

"She saw to it that we didn't miss out on anything because our father was no longer with us and anything she couldn't show us, our grandfather did. I hope that when I become a mother one day, that I am at least half as good as she is," Kagome admitted honestly as she took over one of the burners in the stove and began cooking up the eggs.

"I must insist on meeting such a wonderful woman. Perhaps I could even take some pointers from her," Fuu half joked as she began transferring the food that was ready onto the plates on the counter behind them.

"I kind of doubt that, Fuu-san, from what I have seen, you have done an amazing job raising your three children. What could be left to learn?"

"Dear child, you will learn one day that a parent is never done learning how to be good at their job. The times are constantly changing and we are always learning something new about raising children. And what I learn now, even though I only have one teenager left to raise, I can teach to my daughter and future daughter-in-laws.

"Now let's get those omelet rolls on the plates since they are done and I think I hear the first ones starting to come downstairs," Fuu informed her before waiting until Kagome had dished up the omelet rolls and picked up as many plates as she could carry. Grabbing the remaining dishes, Kagome followed after her.

...

Having found a rare moment of peace in a crowded house, Kagome and Sesshoumaru were enjoying simply sitting together in the garden silently when someone calling for her quickly put an end to it. "It seems mother is ready for that shopping trip I had warned you about. Are you sure you will be okay answering her endless questions?" Sesshoumaru wondered, worried that their cover would be blown and his mother would insist on setting him up on another horrible date.

"I will be fine, Sesshoumaru. We have already been over every question she could possibly ask a hundred times. If she figures it out, it won't be from me," Kagome assured him before rising to her feet and starting to make her way back inside. When she realized his mother was already making her way over to them, she leaned down to kiss Sesshoumaru's cheek before glancing up and pretending to have just noticed her.

"Hello Fuu-san, were you calling me? I was just on my way inside to check," Kagome informed her with a bright smile before turning toward Sesshoumaru as he stood and greeted her as well.

"Yes I was, Kagome-chan, how do you feel about going shopping with me?" Fuu asked politely and though Kagome could tell she had the option of saying no, she knew by her tone of voice that she would be disappointed if she did.

"I would love to," Kagome assured her with a smile before turning back and gently kissing Sesshoumaru on the cheek once more. "I will see you later, Sesshoumaru-san," Kagome continued and after receiving a nod from him, she followed after his mother and she began making her way back inside. Not really sure if she was looking forward to the trip or not yet, Kagome said nothing as she followed her outside and into the waiting car.

Though she wasn't used to having a driver, Kagome found herself even more confused by Kikyou joining them at the last moment. It wasn't as though she minded her coming with them, and in fact might work out in her favour to have another person around for Fuu to question, she was simply caught off guard and was already looking forward to the time when she would be back home where everything tended to follow the schedule she had planned.

"I haven't had much time with Kikyou-chan since she has been busy with the wedding plans. I hope you do not mind me inviting her," Fuu questioned in such a way that Kagome knew she could not refuse, even if she wanted to, without sounding rude.

"Or course not, the more the merrier and I am sure Kikyou was looking for an opportunity to spend time with you as well. Far be it for me to try and take that away from her," Kagome insisted before turning to both of the women and smiling. Scooting over as far as she could in the back seat so there would be enough room for them to climb in and take their own seats, Kagome waited silently for them to do just that and for the driver to get in after closing the door behind them.

It was not long before he was starting the car and backing out of the driveway; leaving Kagome to wonder how long it would be before the endless list of questions started. Much to her surprise, she was actually able to travel the entire trip in relative silence as Fuu opted to speak quietly to Kikyou about the upcoming wedding. It wasn't until they had arrived at the mall and were already making their way through the first store that the attention was actually turned back to her.

"So Kagome dear, how are you enjoying your trip back home? Any plans to go see your family?" Fuu inquired as they began navigating their way through rows upon rows of summer dresses. Instead of giving her the chance to respond, Fuu pulled a seemingly random dress from the racks and held it up in front of her. "This would look perfect on you. My son just loves maroon," Fuu insisted, handing Kagome the dress and giving her no chance to refuse.

"It is nice to have the chance to come back for a visit. I don't get away from my job very often so I am unable to come back as much as I would have liked. And yes, Sesshoumaru-san and I are hoping to find some time to visit my mother," Kagome explained even as Fuu was holding up another dress in front of her and handing it over without asking her opinion on it. Deciding to just go with it for now, Kagome said nothing about the fact that the dress really wasn't in her taste.

"Tell me dear, what was your first impression of my son?" Fuu inquired, even as she continued to add dresses to both Kagome's and Kikyou's piles and the former found herself wondering just how many dresses she wanted them to try on. After a moment, Kagome realized she was staring at her, still waiting for her answer. As this wasn't one of the questions they rehearsed, Kagome decided it was best to tell her the truth.

"Honestly I found Sesshoumaru-san to be both breathtaking and intimidating. His mere presence demands respect from anyone around him and yet there is an underlying softness that most would overlook due to his usual stoic expressions. The first time I saw him, I was both frightened and intrigued. Kinda of like a moth drawn to the flame; there's always a chance that you will get burned, yet you just have to be close to something so beautiful even if it is only for a short time."

It wasn't until Kagome finished speaking and began glancing at the dresses in her hands that she finally realized the two had completely stopped shopping and were just staring at her in silence. "Did I say something strange?" Kagome wondered, a bit worried she might have said something that would blow their cover. Her fears were alleviated when Fuu smiled brightly at her and drew the startled girl into a hug.

"Oh dear, you have no idea how happy I am to hear to say that. Most women are frightened by his temperament and do not bother getting to know the man underneath. But to hear you speak so highly of him, I am so happy my son found a woman who loves him so much," Fuu insisted as she hugged her once more and Kagome found herself feeling more confused with every passing moment.

As she went over her words silently in her mind, Kagome couldn't figure out what part of them made the woman believe she was in love with her son, but more importantly than that, she couldn't let the woman's strange leap interfere with their plan. "Fuu-san, please do not say anything to Sesshoumaru-san, we are not to that stage in our relationship yet and due to his personality, he must be the one to say the L word first or he might feel trapped into saying something he doesn't mean and end things just to not feel obligated to say the same."

"Oh dear, I had not thought of that, but you are right. I can already see my son acting just as you have described. You can rest assured that I will not say anything to him. Now let's get you two to try on your dresses," Fuu insisted as she began leading them toward the dressing room. Though she had far more dresses in her hands than they usually allowed at once, the sales girl didn't seem to mind as she motioned both of them into separate changing rooms; apparently Fuu was a frequent shopper there.

...

The car ride home had gone smoothly for Kagome as the conversation had turned back to the wedding the moment they were all seated and on their way. Pretty much left on her own, Kagome turned her attention to the five dresses that filled the shopping bag at her feet. Even with as much as she had protested, Fuu had insisted that she buy her 'pretty things' for her time there; it was all Kagome could do to stop her from adding shoes or the other half a dozen dresses she had wanted to get her.

The bright side of things, however, was the fact that Kikyou seemed to be as uncomfortable as she was. In fact, if her relationship with Sesshoumaru had been real, Kagome was certain she would have found a kindred spirit in Kikyou. Both of them seem to have been thrown into a world they were not used to; or at least if she was used to having so much money, she did a great job at hiding the fact. But as the car stopped and the door was being opened for them, Kagome decided it didn't really matter one way or the other.

The relationship wasn't real and after the wedding, it was doubtful she would ever see the girl again. And now that they were back 'home', Kagome couldn't wait to get back to the safety and comfort of her room. But whatever plan to relax she had still been contemplating was soon for naught. Not even a full minute after she had arrived in her room and was beginning to hang up her dresses, Sesshoumaru walked in after knocking on her door. "My mother suggested I come see your new clothing," he informed her, his tone clearly stating his disinterest.

Sighing softly to herself, Kagome began pulling the dresses back out of the closet and held them up to him one by one. After a minute, Sesshoumaru gestured to a strapless dress with maroon and white flowers, "Wear that one. I've planned a 'date' for us tonight to get us out of the house for a while and you will win some points with my mother if you wear something she just bought for you," Sesshoumaru explained before making his way back out of the room before she had the chance to respond.

Sighing softly to herself once more, Kagome quickly undressed and threw the dress he had picked out over her head; settling it into place. Grabbing a pair of white sandals, she put them on before combing her fingers through her hair and sweeping it back into a high pony tail. A quick glance in the mirror and she was heading out of her room; finding a changed Sesshoumaru already waiting for her.

Though she was a bit startled by his new look, she had to admit that the shorts, sandals and unbuttoned over-shirt matched her outfit quite well. Before she could ask if that was planned, Sesshoumaru had placed her hand on his arm and began leading them downstairs where his family was already waiting. "You look so beautiful, Kagome-chan," Fuu greeted and, unable to think of anything to say other than 'thank you', Kagome offered a quick one before flashing her brightest smile.

"We will be back later tonight. Do not wait up for us," Sesshoumaru insisted before heading out the door before anyone could say anything else; dragging Kagome along with him. Confused, but thankful to get out of the house for a while, that didn't involve getting a whole new wardrobe from a woman she was lying to, Kagome didn't resist as he pulled her toward a car and practically threw her in the passenger seat before climbing in behind the wheel.

Sensing something a bit off with him, Kagome decided it would be best to wait for him to speak; not wanting to cause his annoyance to turn to her. Much to her relief, it did not take long before he was filling her in. "I tired of their incessant questions; figured you could use a break as well. Tell me where to drop you off and I'll come back to pick you up in a few hours," Sesshoumaru informed her as he pulled out onto the highway.

"Do we have to separate? I only ask because I don't have any where to go at this time of night, but if you want a break away from me as well, you can just drop me off somewhere that'll still be open for a few hours," Kagome offered, not really wanting to be alone, but happy to just be out of the house.

"No my aim was not to be away from you; just thought I would offer. I am going to go for a drive. You are welcome to stay," Sesshoumaru replied before falling into silence once more and Kagome settled back into her seat for what she was sure would turn out to be a long ride. Almost an hour had passed, the two of them just driving down the highway with no destination in mind, before Kagome finally glanced over at him and realized he was not starting to relax yet.

"If you don't mind me asking, what questions were they asking that has you so stressed out? Your knuckles are making the rest of your pale skin looked severely tanned," Kagome informed him, gesturing to his extremely tight grip on the steering wheel. Instead of answering right away, Sesshoumaru took the next exit in silence and Kagome began to worry that she might have annoyed him by questioning what had happened.

Deciding against questioning his current actions, Kagome just waited in silence as he pulled off onto the side of the road and parked before getting out of the car. Uncertain if he wanted to be left alone or not, Kagome decided to risk it and she got out and followed after him; soon realizing they were at an empty beach. Glancing around, Kagome couldn't remember the last time she had ever seen the beach so quiet, but soon realized that she had never actually been to the beach at night.

Quickly removing her sandals, Kagome hooked her fingers in the straps and began walking barefoot through the sand. "You should take off your sandals. Walking barefoot in the sand has a calming effect; plus it exfoliates," Kagome explained with a smile as she sped up so she was in front of him before turning around so she was walking backward.

Though he didn't say anything, Sesshoumaru did as she suggested and was soon walking with his own sandals in his hands. Kagome had given up on ever getting an answer and was just enjoying their walk when Sesshoumaru finally started speaking. "My father has given me an ultimatum; I have one year to get married or he will arrange a marriage for me. He insists that I settle down and be ready to take over the 'family business' and that I will do better in politics if I have a family.

"He knows that I do not want to go into the Diet, but he has officially threatened to cut me out of his will if I do not. I do not care about his money; I only want that house," Sesshoumaru explained before noticing Kagome's confused expression. "Not the mansion they are living in. Three hundred years ago when my ancestors first settled in this part of Japan, they built this small house in the middle of no where. Over the years it was built upon until my grandfather joined the Diet and moved into the current house.

"That piece of property is all I want and my father knows it," Sesshoumaru explained before stopping at the shoreline to dig his toes into the sand and stare out into the water. For a long while, Kagome just watched him in silence trying to figure out what she would have done had she been in the position he was currently in.

How would she have reacted if her grandfather had tried to force her to become a priestess by threatening to take away something she really wanted? The more she thought of it, the more Kagome realized that there was nothing she could have wanted as badly as he seemed to want that house that her grandfather could have possibly taken away.

"Well, why don't you try giving him what he wants, or at least letting him think you did," Kagome suggested only to be met by the confused eyes of Sesshoumaru. "Basically do something like what we are doing now. Pretend to be engaged to someone or heck you could even pretend to have eloped. Your father will probably be upset that they didn't get to plan the huge wedding for you, but it might be enough to get him to give you what you want.

"You said he gave you a year right?" Kagome questioned, continuing after he had nodded his head, "Then that gives you plenty of time to start looking after we get back home and 'break up'. And I say to wait a month or so to break that news to your family. Wouldn't want them getting suspicious about the truth," Kagome insisted, having had already decided that a month was a good enough amount of time to stop her family from having any doubts.

"You do not want to be added to the list of possible fake fiancés? It would be easier to sell since they already believe we are dating," Sesshoumaru countered, thoroughly confused by her not wanting to be considered. Was she having such a horrible time already that he wasn't aware of? Was his family that hard to deal with or was it perhaps him that she had the problem with? Had things already gotten to the point of unbearable without him even noticing?

Unaware of his inner thoughts, Kagome just shook her head with a soft laugh. "Your mother knows who I am and where to find my family. It would be a lot harder to break off an engagement if she can get a hold of the girl and try to change her mind using guilt or whatever other motherly tools she has at her disposal. It's what my mother would do.

"What you need to do is find another girl that they have never heard of, preferably someone from the States so they couldn't just look her parents up. Actually," Kagome nearly shouted when a sudden streak of genius crossed her mind. "You don't even need to find another girl. Just make one up. They can't track down someone that doesn't exist," Kagome insisted with a smile.

"You do have a point. I will keep that in mind," Sesshoumaru assured her before turning back out toward the water; watching the moonlight's reflection dance in the current. Figuring that meant the conversation was over, Kagome mimicked his actions before shivering in the cool breeze. Before she could realize how cold it had gotten, Sesshoumaru was already putting his over shirt over her shoulders. "We should head back before you catch a cold," he insisted before leading her back toward the waiting car.

The next two days passed by quickly and without anyone bothering Kagome or Sesshoumaru too much. With the wedding taking place soon, they were all too busy concentrating on the only girl who was really going to marry one of their sons. Now that the day was upon them, the wedding set to start any minute, Kagome was grateful to find herself completely forgotten about. She had been seen to her seat, one way in the back away from the family seating area, by Sesshoumaru hours before.

And now the room was full of people, the organ player waiting for her signal to start the Wedding March, the groom tugging nervously at his sleeve while the best man fought the urge to roll his eyes at his antics. The signal apparently having been given, the organ music started to fill the room and everyone stood; turning toward the back of the church to watch her approach.

Unable to see anything over the seemingly giant people that just so happened to be seated to her right, Kagome just plastered a smile on her face as she tuned everything else out. It wasn't as though she didn't like weddings or anything, it was just that she couldn't really get excited about being there when she didn't really know any of them. And as far as she could figure, she would have probably felt the same way if she had really been Sesshoumaru's date.

Realizing everyone was starting to sit down, Kagome did the same before turning her attention back to the front. Apparently Kikyou's father had already given her away as she was standing next to her husband-to-be. Not that Kagome could actually see her, as the man in front of her completely obscured her view; though she could still make out the giant puff ball that was her dress.

Even with as little as she could see, Kagome was certain there was enough tulle and lace to fill up a fabric store on her dress alone. That wasn't counting the veil Inuyasha had yet to pull up or the seemingly endless train Kagome could just make out piled on the floor at Kikyou's feet. Kagome may not have known when she would be getting married or even who she would be getting married to, but there was one thing she knew; she was going far less traditional.

Maybe barefoot on the beach in a summer dress as the sun set behind them. Or standing in front of the Justice of the Peace with only two people in attendance as witnesses. Perhaps while bungee jumping or skydiving. Something small, but unique that prevents too many people from being there and makes the white wedding dress obsolete; along with the traditional one. Something she would actually be able to enjoy rather than just feeling as though it was an obligation.

Turning her attention back to the present and checking in on the wedding party, Kagome found them exchanging rings and was silently grateful as it meant this would be over soon. Glancing away from them, Kagome turned her eyes to Sesshoumaru and found him returning it. Giving him a quick smile, she spared the bride and groom a glance, finding him raising the veil for their first kiss as man and wife.

Getting her hands posed to clap as soon as it was time, Kagome glanced back toward Sesshoumaru to find him still watching her. She raised her eyebrows slightly in question and he responded by barely shaking his head. Fortunately, she was saved from any further confusion as others around her started clapping as they stood up. Joining in, Kagome did her best to stifle a yawn, but judging by the dirty look she was given by the man next to her, she had not done as good a job as she would have hoped.

Kagome waited patiently as the other guests started filling out of the rows one by one; doing her best to bite her tongue when two or more of them would decide to hold everyone up so they could chat. She was about ready to climb over the row in front of her, fancy dress and heels be damned, when she felt someone tugging on her arm. Whirling around, she was about to tell someone off when she realized just who was standing there. "What?" was all she was able to get out before he was pulling her back the way she had come.

Without a word, Sesshoumaru dragged her out a side exit, away from the ones the guest were using to head toward the reception, and continued that way until he was putting her in the passenger seat in his car. A moment later, he was sitting down behind the wheel and locking the car doors. Resting back in his seat, he sighed loudly before punching the steering wheel; causing Kagome to jump.

"Sorry, I did not mean to frighten you," Sesshoumaru assured her as he turned toward her upon hearing her startled 'eep'. "I just needed to get out of there. I should just skip the reception," he told her, though Kagome wasn't exactly sure which of them he was really speaking to.

"You did not frighten me, Sesshoumaru, merely startled me. And I can understand wanting to get out of there, I felt like I was drowning in the tulle and I could barely see her. I can't even imagine how bad it was to be standing in front of everyone for that long. But I am afraid you have to go to the reception; you're the best man. And if memory serves me, that means you have to give a speech."

"You know, if it wasn't for that speech, they probably wouldn't even realize I wasn't there," Sesshoumaru half joked, but Kagome could tell by his tone that he didn't believe it. They would probably want to ask him more questions, or hint toward his own wedding whenever the bride and groom were busy elsewhere. He would probably be lucky to go un-missed for five minutes.

"Tell you what," Kagome began, drawing his attention back to her, "Stay until after you give your toast and then we can split. You could even blame it on me not feeling well if you want an excuse." For a moment, Sesshoumaru just watched her in silence before finally nodding his head. "But in return, I get one dance," Kagome insisted and with a chuckle, Sesshoumaru nodded his head once more.

A few moments later they were heading out of the parking lot, making the short trip to where the reception was being held. Once they had found a spot to park, the two were once again heading inside, both silently hoping that the toasts came quickly. Showing Kagome to her seat, far away from the action once again, Sesshoumaru whispered, "Lucky you," before heading toward the front of the room and taking his seat next to the groom.

Unable to do anything else to help him, Kagome gave him a reassuring smile before glancing around the room. As per usual, there was a section set aside for dancing and for the band. All of the guest tables made a giant U in front of the wedding party's table. And coming from somewhere she could not see, Kagome was pretty sure she could smell roasted duck and some kind of steak. She could only tell that it was beef, but she doubted they would be serving hamburger meat at a wedding this fancy.

"May I?" Sesshoumaru inquired suddenly, starling her as she hadn't noticed his arrival back at her table. Confused, Kagome just look at him for a moment before she realizing he was holding out his hand for her and what that entailed. Smiling, Kagome nodded her head as she place her much smaller hand in his and allowed him to lead her toward the dance floor. "I hope you know how to dance," Sesshoumaru whispered but a moment before he twirled her out away from him without waiting for her response.

Giggling, Kagome gracefully twirled back to him before clasping her right hand with his left and gently placed her left hand on his hip. "I could probably dance circles around you," Kagome teased as she fell in step with him; the two gliding around the dance floor with ease. "You're not too bad yourself, I would have thought you were too stuffy for dancing," Kagome joked and was 'rewarded' for her jab by being dipped so low that the ends of her hair dragged along the floor for a moment.

"Did you not know that the stuffy excel at dancing? We have great posture," Sesshoumaru informed her before twirling both of them across the dance floor, causing her dress to flutter in the breeze they created, when he noticed his dancing parents were making their way toward them. No doubt they had more useless questions for him and Sesshoumaru wasn't about to give them the chance to ask.

Apparently understanding what was going on, Kagome effortlessly twirled her way back toward a more crowed spot on the floor; forcing Sesshoumaru to follow due to their still entangled fingers. Once he was certain there was too many people around them for his parents to follow, Sesshoumaru pulled her close once more and began dancing slowly as a waltz started playing. "You make a fine partner in all of this," Sesshoumaru whispered, his lips just beside her ear, causing her to shiver slightly and unconsciously pull closer to him.

Certain she was blushing without having to look, Kagome opted to just nod her head instead of answering as she turned her eyes back out into the crowd. Quickly glancing around to make sure they were still clear of his parents, she spotted them making their way toward the main table; trying to get Sesshoumaru's attention. "I do believe your parents are signalling that it's time for your toast. Just remember, we're gone as soon as you are done," Kagome promised before gently squeezing his hand and then stepping back so he could make his way up to the front of the room.

With all eyes facing front as someone began tapping on a wine glass to signal an incoming toast, Kagome made her way toward her table completely unnoticed. Grabbing her purse, she threw a couple of rolls in and started making her way to the back of the room as Sesshoumaru began speaking at the front. "It is no secret that my brother and I have our difficulties. We have had our share of squabbles, of sibling rivalries and have even had some fist fights.

"Growing up, we were almost always at odds with each other, never agreeing on anything if we could help it. Looking at my brother now, at the man he has become, I realize that I do not even know him. He's not the annoying little brother I have always known him to be. He is not following me around, wanting to do everything I am doing, fighting with me when I tell him no. Now he only sees one person and I am all but forgotten.

"It is not hard to figure out why. So I would like to toast Kikyou-san," Sesshoumaru paused as he raised his glass and almost everyone around the room did the same. "Thank you, Kikyou-san, for taking him off of my hands. May you have many happy years together and that you be the one he follows around."

...

Only a few minutes after Sesshoumaru had finished giving his toast, the two of them were already buckled in and heading toward the highway. They remained silent for a long while, neither of them feeling the need to speak and both enjoying the quiet.

It wasn't until Kagome began to realize that she didn't recognize the scenery anymore that she realized they weren't heading back toward his house. Not really concerned about their destination, merely curious, Kagome glanced toward him to voice such thoughts when Sesshoumaru began speaking.

"I do not wish to return to my parents home tonight. Without Inuyasha and his new bride there to take some of the spotlight, they will be concentrating entirely on us and that is far more parental attention than I can stand.

"My family has a small summer home on the beach a few hours from here. That is where we are going," Sesshoumaru informed her and she almost joked about herself apparently not having a choice in the matter, but decided against it at the last moment.

He had so much going on in his mind at the time, she doubted he was even fully aware that he was not alone. And besides, a night at the beach sounded much better than going back to his parents house without him.

And so without any real discussion on the matter, their plans for the night were settled and they continued the rest of the way to the cabin in silence. As they made their way out of the car, Sesshoumaru showed her up a large set of wooden stairs and into a dark, but spacious entry way.

A moment later he flipped on the light switch and Kagome was able to see just how big the room was. With her mouth opened in the shape of an 'o', Kagome glanced around the room in awe. "Like what you see?" Sesshoumaru inquired with a smirk when he noticed her expression, causing Kagome to blush.

"Considering this entryway is bigger than my whole apartment, how can I not?" Kagome shot back chuckling once she had gotten over her initial embarrassment. Realizing he was moving deeper into the house, Kagome followed after him while trying to take in the scenery around her.

On the left from the entryway was the living room; walls filled with family photos. Some of which were in black and white. A large fireplace sat in the middle of the far left wall. To the right was a large kitchen, almost the size of the one in his parents' house with a closed door leading to the cellar.

As they continued along, he showed her to the downstairs bathroom, the back door that led to the beach and then up a long, double wide staircase. At the top of which were many rooms; each including their own bathroom and balcony according to him. By the time he finally showed her into the room she would be sleeping in, explaining there was a new yukata in the closest that she could wear to bed and that his room was right next door, Kagome had become a bit overwhelmed by it all.

After bidding him goodnight, Kagome shut the door behind her and listened as his footsteps headed toward his own room. Once she was certain he was in for the night, she began changing into the yukata and quickly climbed into bed. The warm, inviting blankets quickly relaxed her and she fell asleep within minutes.

On the other side of the wall, Sesshoumaru wasn't having the same luck. As he laid down in his own bed and pulled the blankets up to his bare chest, his mind refused to relax enough so he could sleep. Too many things kept running through his mind; his father's ultimatum, work he would need to do as soon as he returned home, even the girl just on the other side of the wall crossed his mind once or twice.

He was grateful she had been willing to go along with the ruse, certain he would have stayed home if he had been unable to find anyone rather than allow his mother to set him up again. And her suggestion to pretend to get engaged so he could at least stall his father, was a good idea, but it would need more if he wanted to convince his father to give the house to him.

No, he was going to have to get married or at least pretend to be. Then he could get the house and pretend to divorce her or just tell his father the truth after that. Once that property was in his name, it didn't matter. His father couldn't take it away and it was all he wanted. And her suggestion to make the girl up would probably be his best bet.

She couldn't be someone he 'worked with' as his parents might try to get information about her out of Miroku. And he did not want to have to let his cousin in on the truth this time. No he would go away on vacation after they returned and broke up and he would meet her there. She would need to have a job that would keep her too busy and would inexplicably keep her out of town in case his parents sent Miroku over or Kami forbid try to come visit themselves.

Something like a flight attendant. Second generation Japanese American with no family still back in Japan. He couldn't risk them trying to look up her family even if he wasn't telling them about them. He might end up needing a picture of her or of both of them, but with all of the photo-shopping programs out there, he knew that wouldn't be too difficult.

Satisfied he had come up with enough back story for the non-existent girl for now, Sesshoumaru decided to try and put that problem from his kind for now and closed his eyes; hoping sleep would finally come. But as he lay there wide awake as the minutes ticked on by, he realized sleep would not be an option for a while.

Giving up for now, Sesshoumaru threw the blankets back and climbed out of bed, making his way over to the balcony. Deciding some fresh air would do him some good, he unlocked the doors and stepped out into the cool night air. Hearing a noise from beside him, he glanced over to find Kagome standing on her own balcony; smiling out into the water.

"How long have you been out here?" he questioned, startling her slightly as she had yet to notice his appearance. For a moment, Kagome could only stand there staring at him in silence as she tried to remember how long she had been standing there.

"A while, I guess," Kagome finally decided on before glancing back out over the water. "I fell right asleep, but I woke back up almost as quickly. It's so pretty out here; the water bathed in moonlight," she told him, apparently deciding to change the subject. He figured she had problems sleeping because she was in another strange place, but the truth was she had gotten used to hearing his breathing while she slept.

Without him in the room with her, Kagome felt the most alone she could remember ever feeling. Even back home in her apartment, she never really felt alone, just left alone, but now without him she found the darkness to be eerie, the silence too quiet. She knew she would eventually get used to being alone again once they headed back to the States, but for now she would just lose a little sleep.

"Have you ever gone swimming down there at night? I want to go down there, but I don't want to risk drowning by swimming alone," Kagome admitted as she watched the waves lapping at the shore; each one giving off a roar that was both loud and somehow quiet.

"The house does not have any swimsuits. We never seem to go swimming when we come out here," Sesshoumaru explained as he too turned out toward the water, mentally agreeing with her that a swim would feel great right now.

Laughing softly, Kagome turned back toward him with a smile. "Who needs a swimsuit? They're basically the same things as undergarments anyways. As long as you are not the kind of guy that likes to go commando, I think we'll be okay. I'll meet you downstairs," Kagome informed him before heading back inside without giving him the chance to respond.

She didn't want to hang around too long and risk him noticing the blush she was sporting at the idea of him going commando. Making her way quickly outside, Kagome sat down on a bench and waited for him to join her. It was not long before he had arrived, two towels thrown over his arm, and they began making their way down the beach.

Once they found the perfect spot, they laid out their towels and Kagome turned her back to him. "We'll face away from each other as we get undressed and just wait until you hear me splash before you head toward the water," Kagome instructed even as she started undressing without bothering to make sure he had turned around.

Soon enough she had stripped down to just her bra and panties and began running toward the waves; screeching a bit when her body hit the cold water. Giggling once her body began adjusting to the temperature, she called out, "Hurry up, the water's nice and cold!" as she glanced back toward the shore; able to just make out his well-toned chest in the moonlight.

As she turned back and began wading around in the water, she could hear Sesshoumaru splashing around at the shore as he made his way in. "Isn't the water perfect?" she called out to him over the sounds of the water as she started swimming toward him.

"No, actually the water is freezing. You, my dear, are crazy," Sesshoumaru insisted though he showed no sign of getting out of the water and instead swam out further. Giggling softly, Kagome waited until he was in range and then splashed him with a large wave of water.

"My insanity is irrelevant, sanity is over rated," she insisted with a smile before squealing as Sesshoumaru started swimming toward her. Sure he was out for revenge, Kagome swam away from him as fast as she could, but her speed was simply no match for his and he quickly caught up.

Grabbing onto her waist, Sesshoumaru lifted her as high as he could out of the water and then threw her back in. Even as she came up gasping for air, Kagome was laughing and splashing him again. Seeing him start to chase her once more, Kagome dived under water just before he could grab her and swam as fast as she could toward the shore.

With as dark as the water was, it was easy for her to stay out of his sight and managed to get to the show before he could find her. "You're going the wrong way!" she called out from the shoreline when she turned around and found Sesshoumaru still out in the water searching for her.

Hearing her voice, Sesshoumaru looked toward the shore to find her already wrapping herself in a towel. Diving under the water, he swam as fast as he could and arrived on the beach in only a few moments. "That is cheating," he insisted as he stepped onto the shore and made his way over to his own towel.

"All's fair in love and water fights," Kagome replies with a giggle as she picked up her clothing and started making her way back toward the cabin with Sesshoumaru following close behind. "Wow it's really cold once you get out of the water," Kagome realized a moment before she shiver; causing Sesshoumaru to laugh at her.

"You're the one that wanted to go swimming in the middle of the night," he reminded her as he opened the door and held it open for her. "Sit down in the living room. I'll get a fire going," Sesshoumaru told her as he disappeared down the hall. Slightly startled by his quick departure, Kagome shrugged her shoulders before heading into the front room.

Sitting down as close to the fireplace as she could without getting burned once it was going, Kagome pulled the towel tighter; hoping to warm up soon. Closing her eyes, she thought warm thoughts until she heard the sound of fire popping and opened them up again to find Sesshoumaru already had a fire going.

Without a word, Sesshoumaru sat down beside her and placed a blanket over both of them before setting a large bowl of popcorn in his lap. For a moment, Kagome just stared at the bowl in silence, a bit startled by the unexpected treat. "We do not keep much food here unless we are scheduled to come up," he explained as he grabbed a handful of popcorn and started munching on it.

Apparently getting over her shock, Kagome mimicked his actions and was soon enjoying the buttery goodness. Two hours later, the fire had died down to a few burning coals, the bowl had been emptied besides a bunch of unpopped kernels and the two of them had fallen asleep. At some point they had leaned toward each other; her head resting on his shoulder, his arm around her waist.

They remained that way, both having the best night's sleep they could remember having in a long time, until the sun began to rise the next morning; brightening up the room through the large windows that lined one of the walls. Fighting to remain asleep, Kagome tried to brush away the offending light but instead felt something soft in her fingers.

Her sleepy mind too groggy to figure out what it was on its own, Kagome was forced to open her eyes and give into wakefulness. A moment later when she realized the soft object had been strains of Sesshoumaru's long hair, she was both disappointed and thankful to be awake. As much as she wanted to keep on sleeping, not wanting to leave her comfortable position, it was embarrassing enough to wake up in his arms, the last thing she needed was for him to find out.

Planning to carefully get up and head back to her room, Kagome glanced up toward him only to realize she was looking into golden eyes instead of closed lids. "We fell asleep," Kagome informed him sheepishly, as though he was unable to make that deduction himself. Seeing the way she had started to turn red, Sesshoumaru couldn't help but smirk at her expense.

"There is no need to be embarrassed, we did not do anything inappropriate. We merely fell asleep; nothing more, nothing less," Sesshoumaru assured her as he pulled her tighter against him when she tried to get up. "Things will become uncomfortable between us if we let this become a bigger deal than it actually is."

Amused by his serious tone, Kagome couldn't help but laugh as she rested her head on his shoulder once again. "You needn't worry about me. I may not be 'experienced' but neither am I a prude. I get over embarrassment pretty quickly," Kagome assured him as she scooted closer to him and recovered her legs with the blanket.

"Of course you will still have to close your eyes when I get up. We never got redressed last night. But that's not embarrassment, just that only someone who's really in a relationship with me should see me in such a state of undress," she insisted with a smile as she looked back toward the fireplace.

"Yes, well the same could be said for you. We wouldn't want you to be too attracted to my form and forget that our relationship is fake," Sesshoumaru teased, causing Kagome to bust up laughing. "And what exactly do you find so funny?" Sesshoumaru questioned in mock annoyance.

"You are so cute," she giggled before her stomach decided to growl loudly and make its need for nourishment known. "I think that's our cue to get up and find something to eat," Kagome decided as she tried to get her laughter under control. Once she had managed to calm down, she stood up while wrapping the blanket around her body to keep herself covered.

"And just why do you get the blanket?" Sesshoumaru called after her as he grabbed his yukata from the floor beside him.

Turning back to him in the doorway with a smile, Kagome explained, "Because chivalry isn't dead and fake or not, I'm still the girl in this relationship." Disappearing around the corner, Kagome made her way back upstairs to put on her clothes from the night before. From his spot in front of the fireplace, Sesshoumaru watched her go long after she could no longer be seen. Almost two minutes had passed before he realized what he was doing and went to get dressed himself.

...

As soon as they had arrived back at his parents' house, they were bombarded with questions of where they had been all night and why they hadn't bothered to give them a call. Seeing Sesshoumaru was about ready to lose the calmness a night away from his parents had given him, Kagome had quickly taken a hold of his hand and apologized to his parents before he could say anything.

She explained that the wedding had been so romantic that she wanted to spend some time alone and that they drove up the coast to the beach. His parents were so happy, no doubt hearing wedding bells in her words, that they completely forgot they were upset with them. As his mother began dragging her off, asking a million questions about their night, his father offered him a drink as he led the way to the den.

Though they both knew what his parents must have thought they did while spending the night together, neither of them had any desire to inform them that they had literally slept together and nothing more. It worked to their advantage if his parents thought they were intimate; they didn't need to know that they were both still inexperience.

After what seemed like forever, Kagome was finally able to break away from his mother when she needed to get lunch started and suggested she go spend some time with Sesshoumaru. Deciding to head upstairs to change, as she was still in the clothes she wore to the wedding, Kagome was a bit surprised to find him already waiting in their room. "Wow, you got away from your father already? Only took an hour."

"And I see you have managed to get rid of my mother," Sesshoumaru countered as he grabbed his own change of clothing and headed into the bathroom. Taking that as her cue to get dressed while he was out of the room, Kagome did just that before calling out to him that she was decent.

"Apparently she needed to get lunch started and thought I should spend more time with you," Kagome explained when he returned donning a pair of shorts and a light t-shirt. "Isn't it a bit early to get lunch started? It's barely ten o'clock."

"It's a sign," Sesshoumaru explained as he sat down on the edge of the couch and put on his sandals. "When she starts this early it means that it is an important meal. Some of my relatives are probably stopping by. Probably Miroku's parents since him and his wife will probably be here too," he continued as he waited for her to put on her own sandals and then grabbed her hand as he headed out of the room.

Without a word of protest or inquiry, Kagome allowed herself to be dragged downstairs behind him. She was already used to such behavior and was certain she would be more comfortable wherever he was taking them than she would be if she stayed there without him. "We're going for a walk," Sesshoumaru called over his shoulder to his father, without bothering to slow down or wait for an answer, as they headed out the front door.

They had gotten over a block away before he finally slowed down; though he did not release her hand. Figuring he could probably use the comfort her hand provided and in no hurry to let his go, Kagome decided not to bring it to his attention and instead walked beside him in silence. "My father is becoming unbearable," Sesshoumaru finally told her.

"He is only just becoming? I would have thought he would become unbearable after about five minutes with his endless questioning," Kagome joked, hoping to lighten his mood a bit. Judging by his snort, she was having some effect on him. "But either way, I'm good for walking around as long as you need to. Just head back whenever you are ready."

"If we wait until I am ready, I am pretty sure we will have walked to the States," Sesshoumaru joked back, causing Kagome to chuckle. "He actually had the nerve to ask when I was going to make an honest woman out of you," he continued, causing Kagome to laugh even harder.

"Well your mother never asked me that, but she did practically ask me to bear your children," she informed him, causing Sesshoumaru to stop suddenly and turn toward her. "I believe her exact words were 'you must know how beautiful and well-bred your children would be. You could not ask for a better man to reproduce with'. It took everything I had not to bust up laughing. Are they really so desperate to marry you off?"

Instead of answering right away, Sesshoumaru started walking again once he had gotten over his initial shock; their fingers remaining intertwined. "I can not believe she said that to you," he finally mumbled, though Kagome doubted he was serious. It was exactly the kind of thing her mother would say so she wasn't really surprised that his had.

"I can not wait until this trip is over. I will not be happy until I do not have to deal with them again for a long while," Sesshoumaru admitted as he turned and started leading them down a dirt path that seemed to circle back toward his parents' house about a mile downhill from them.

"Ah but once you are back in the comfort of your own home and an ocean away from your parents, you will no longer have the pleasure of my company. At least with me around, your whole trip isn't a complete waste," Kagome joked, a bit surprised when he finally released her hand only to wrap his arm around her waist; pulling her closer.

"Yes, your presence has made this trip more bearable. I would have stayed home if I did not have company through all of this. Thank you for agreeing to come with me," Sesshoumaru told her and Kagome couldn't help but smile. Even with as tough and unshakable as he seemed to be, he was still effected by the words of his parents.

"I'm glad I could help. And the parts with just you have been fun," Kagome admitted as she glanced up at him in the morning light; not for the first time noticing just how handsome he was. Realizing she was staring and starting to become attracted to him, Kagome quickly reminded herself that it was all pretend and looked away.

For the next hour, the two of them wandered around in silence before finally making their way back. The moment they walked in the door, they could hear conversation going on in the dinning room and decided to head directly there; hoping his parents would give the 20 questions a rest since they had company over.

But as Kagome stepped through the doorway into the dinning room, all thoughts of his parents fled her mind. "Momma?!" she questioned startled by her presence. Hearing her voice, everyone turned to her; including the equally startled Sesshoumaru upon learning who was there. "Momma, what are you doing here?" Kagome continued even as the woman rose from her seat and threw her arms around her.

"It's so good to see you, Kagome. Fuu-san invited us over for lunch. She figured we wouldn't get many opportunities for all of us to get together with you two living in the States," she explained as she finally stepped back from the hug and took in her daughter's appearance before glancing over to Sesshoumaru. "And you must be the boyfriend we know nothing about."

"Us?" Kagome questioned as she glanced around and saw no one her mother could be referring to. Before she could respond, Kagome's grandfather came back into the room; smiling when he saw her. "Grandpa?" Kagome questioned even more shocked to see him there than she had been her mother. "Fuu-san? She invited you?"

"Yes, she called the shrine when you two didn't come home last night and they thought maybe you came to visit. Really Kagome, staying out all night with a man? Boyfriend or not, people will start to talk and think you're not a virgin anymore," her mother insisted, shaking her head.

"Mother!" Kagome practically shouted at her; unable to believe she had actually just said that in front of people she had just met.

"Virgin? Sesshoumaru!" Fuu-san called out as she tuned toward her son in shock. She couldn't believe her son would be having such a serious relationship with a girl before marriage when she hadn't been experienced yet.

"Mother, it's not what you think," Kagome tried to explain, but after hearing Fuu-san's tone of voice, it wasn't hard for her to put together the same idea they had and she refused to listen.

"Kagome, don't tell me you...?" she began as she looked between her and Sesshoumaru and Kagome could almost see the wheels turning in her head to complete the rest of that thought.

"Kagome-san and I have not consummated our relationship yet," Sesshoumaru assured them, causing all eyes to turn toward him as Kagome blushed beet red. "Not that it is any of your business even if we had," Sesshoumaru insisted, wanting to get the conversation changed before they managed to figure out there was no relationship to consummate.

"But you stayed out all night," his mother insisted, as if that alone was enough to prove something had happened.

"No, mother we did not stay out all night. We simply did not come back here. We went up to the beach house, went swimming and fell asleep in front of the fire. You simply chose to believe something else had happened," Sesshoumaru told her, wishing they were still at the beach house and not having to deal with this.

"Well what do you expect in this day and age? How was I supposed to know you found the one person still waiting for marriage?" Fuu insisted, finding such a thing to be rare when it wasn't an arranged marriage. Even Inuyasha hadn't waited; she had the unfortunate luck to walk in on them. Thankfully they had only been getting redressed at the time.

"She is not the only one mother," Sesshoumaru informed her and though he didn't actually mean to imply himself, judging from the sudden sparkle in her eyes, she had taken it that way.

Turning from her son to Kagome's mother, Fuu suggested, "Perhaps we should be thinking of an arranged marriage. These two are obviously perfect for each other and we may be waiting around forever if we wait on them."

Before she had the chance to respond, Sesshoumaru was answering for her before he even knew he was speaking. "You needn't bother. We are already engaged," he informed them, his eyes widening with shock and turning toward Kagome when he realized what he had said.

"Sesshoumaru!" Kagome shouted, unable to believe he had just said that. She knew he would have to pretend to get engaged and even married down the road, but not to her. To some imaginary girl that his parents could never track down. Seeing the looks she was getting from all three parents and figuring he was too shocked to answer judging by his expression, Kagome quickly covered. "He wasn't supposed to say anything. This trip was about Inuyasha and Kikyou's wedding; not us."

"When did you two get engaged?" "Where did he propose?" "When's the wedding?" all three parents seemed to ask at once and not knowing what to say, Kagome decided to give them some time to come up with the answers.

"We have been walking around for an hour. Why don't we go get cleaned up and we will discuss this over lunch," Kagome promised before grabbing Sesshoumaru's hand and leading him upstairs without waiting for their answer. Behind her, she could hear his mother's revelation.

"Oh dear, I put them in the same room." Shaking her head, Kagome made her way toward their room; dragging Sesshoumaru along behind her. When she finally released his hand after closing the door behind them, he braced himself for what was to come.

Spinning around to face him, Kagome drove right it. "Why did you say that?! You were supposed to wait until after we got back and broke up to find someone to get engaged to! This was not part of the deal! They know my family now. Do you have any idea how hard it will be to end all of this now?" Though she was speaking rather loud to him, she made sure it wasn't loud enough to carry through the door.

"I did not indent to say that. It just came out. Besides, they were about ready to start planning an arranged marriage; at least a fake engagement will be easier to get out of rather than a real one our parents set up," Sesshoumaru insisted even though he knew her argument was right.

"Our parents can't force us to get married, Sesshoumaru. What century do you live in?" Kagome demanded rhetorically. Closing her eyes, she took a couple of deep breathes to calm herself before speaking again. "Alright, let's hope you are quick on your feet because we need to get our stories straight and get back down there.

"Where did you propose? Here or back home before we came? Did you get down on one knee? And what about the ring? Do we have one yet and I am just not wearing it so people wouldn't know or do we still need to get one?" A bit surprised by the sudden shifting of the conversation, Sesshoumaru just stared at her for a moment.

"Here, it would be too complicated if it was before we came considering some of the conversations we have had with them. Last night actually; this way it was only this morning we didn't tell them rather than days. It was while we were on the beach and no I did not get down on one knee. It isn't my style.

"I walked up behind you, put my arms around your waist and proposed. The actual words we'll keep secret; just say that they are private. You hesitated and we stayed up late talking and fell asleep in front of the fire after you said yes. That will tie in our original story so we wouldn't have actually lied to them."

"Why did I hesitate?" Kagome inquired, legitimately wanting to know.

"We've only been dating for seven months and after the conversations about marriage we've had with my parents since we got here, my father would find it suspicious if you instantly said yes. He might go digging into your background to figure out why and find the truth," Sesshoumaru explained and Kagome couldn't believe she didn't get that before having to have him explain it to her. Besides, she was pretty sure she would have hesitated to accept any proposal even if it was real. Her life was too focused on her at the moment to think about settling down.

"Is there anything else we need to go over before we go down there? They're gonna start wondering about us soon," Kagome pointed out, realizing just how long they had been up there and knowing it shouldn't take that long to get cleaned up.

"There is one other thing," Sesshoumaru informed her and before she could ask what it was, he had closed the distance between them and pressed his lips firmly against hers. Shocked by the sudden and unexpected kiss, Kagome could only stand there instead of participating.

When he finally pulled back, Kagome was asking before she could stop herself, "What'd you do that for?"

"Judging by my mother's behavior at the wedding, it is possible she will insist we kiss. I did not think our first kiss should be done in front of them as it might be awkward and revealing," Sesshoumaru explained and although Kagome understood where he was coming from, she wished he would have given her a heads up.

"You're right, but I think our second kiss should be in private too. I wasn't ready," Kagome insisted as she closed the distance between them once more and pressed her lips to his. Not quite as shocked as she had been, Sesshoumaru was able to respond quickly to her kiss; pushing her back against the foot of the bed as he applied more pressure to the kiss.

When they finally pulled apart that time, both were short of breath and simply stood there staring at each other for a few moments in silence. "It really is too bad we're not really dating; you are a great kisser," Kagome told him with a smile as she straightened her clothes.

"Likewise," Sesshoumaru agreed before taking her hand and making his way back out of the room. Wanting to get everything over with as quickly as he could, Sesshoumaru wasted no time in getting downstairs and taking his seat after pulling out Kagome's for her. The moment they were both seated, the questions started up again.

Smiling softly to Sesshoumaru to let him know she would handle things, Kagome turned back to the group and started recounting the story they had come up with. "Sesshoumaru-san proposed to me last night on the beach.

"We ended up staying there all night because we stayed up too late to drive back. Sesshoumaru spent the night convincing me to say yes," Kagome told them before blushing and glancing over at him. It wasn't too hard to force herself to blush, she needed only think about him sitting beside her in nothing more than a pair of boxers and a shared blanket.

Seeing the looks of concern the two mothers were giving her, no doubt wondering why she needed to be convinced, she continued, "I was worried that getting engaged and married would put a hold on my career, but Sesshoumaru and I agreed that there was no reason to rush into a marriage. We're going to take some time and get to know each other better."

Though she was planning on stopping there, seeing both their mothers were about to object, she continued before they could. "It is better to take more time then rush into things and have one, if not both of us, regret it later. We are still young and have our whole lives ahead of us. If those lives are going to be spent together, than we need to build a stronger foundation.

"We know what our goal is now; we need only work toward it," Kagome assured them before turning toward Sesshoumaru with another smile; knowing it would help to sell her story. Sure enough, both mothers were 'awing' and talking about how sweet together they were. Fortunately, Kagome's stomach chose that moment to growl; drawing everyone's attention back to the meal they had yet to serve.

...

That night, Fuu had decided it was time for Sesshoumaru to go back to his old room since Miroku and Sango were currently staying at his own parents' house. The news came both as a relief and disappointment to Kagome, but she kept it hidden as she pretended to whisper something sweet in his ear before hiding them all a goodnight and heading upstairs.

In truth, she had merely said 'for appearances', but judging by the mothers' nagging questions about what she had said to him, they thought it must have been something good. For a brief moment, she felt bad for leaving him stranded like that, but soon enough she remembered that he was the reason they were in this mess to begin with. After forcing her to deal with the engagement slip, he got off easy.

Once she was in her room, Kagome quickly changed and climbed into bed after shutting off the light. As tired and worn out from the day as she was, she knew it would be a long while before she was able to fall asleep. The room was too quiet, too still without Sesshoumaru laying on the couch nearby. Reminding herself that she would have to get used to it when she went back home, Kagome fought the urge to get out of bed and go find him.

It wasn't a real relationship. She couldn't come dependent of his presence; no matter how comforting it might be. It would only make things that much harder when they returned home and never saw each other again. As much as she didn't want to lose the new friend she had made, she knew she was attracted to him and doubted she could go back to being just friends when they got home. It would simply hurt too much and would be far easier to just stay away.

And she was certain he would agree. Besides, if they were to stay in touch, it might be easier for their parents to try and get them 'back together'. Even as Kagome was thinking all of this, she realized she was really just trying to convince herself. Closing her eyes and praying sleep would be merciful and come quickly, she lay there for a long while before she heard the door to their shared bathroom opening.

Figuring he had just forgotten something and not wanting to deal with him right now, afraid she might make her feelings known and annoy him, she decided to feign sleep and kept her eyes closed. She waited in silence, barely breathing, for him to leave the way he had come, but soon realized he had other plans. Hoping he would see she was asleep and head out, Kagome was surprised to feel the bed dipping as he sat down beside her.

"I know you are not asleep, Kagome, you need not pretend to be. It is not your mother if that is what you are worried about," Sesshoumaru informed her and deciding it was best to not correct him, Kagome just opened her eyes with a smile as though she was relieved that it was him; instead of dreading that.

"What brings you to my room so late?" Kagome inquired as she sat up; careful to keep the blanket pulled up to her neck. Just because she was dressed this time, it didn't mean her fake fiancé needed to see her in her pj's.

"It would seem that the room is too quiet without you in it. I can not sleep," Sesshoumaru admitted; unknowing voicing the same thought she had earlier. As much as she wanted to offer for him to sleep on the couch again, wanting him to be as close as he could be for as long as he could, Kagome knew it was a bad idea. They needed to try and distance themselves from each other while they were still here and could see each other during the day.

It would be far more difficult to try and stop cold turkey once they had gotten home. "It is strange, just as it was when we had to get used to each other being in the same room, but we will adjust. If they come in and find us sleeping in the same room when they have not forced us to, they might not be so inclined to agree to our waiting to get married now that that they know the truth about our inexperience.

"My mother will insist we marry immediately if only to save me and our family name from rumours," Kagome insisted, though she didn't actually think them sleeping in the same room would cause any problems, considering they had been doing it for days, she just knew it would cause her too many problems.

"I see your point. I suppose I can try opening the window. Perhaps the sound of the wind can lull me to sleep. Good night, Kagome," Sesshoumaru bid her before rising to his feet once more. Leaning over, he placed a gentle kiss on her forehead and made his way back to the bathroom. Once he was inside, he closed the door and leaned back against it; releasing the breath he didn't realize he had been holding.

He knew the kiss was a bad idea, even with as innocent as it was, but he simply couldn't help himself. The desire to kiss her once more, even if just on the forehead, won out against his better judgement and he had been left helpless to resist it. It would probably be the last time he got to kiss her since they would be returning home and parting ways soon.

Things were not going as he planned, Sesshoumaru decided as he made his way back into his childhood room and closed the second door behind him. This was supposed to be a simple pretend dating so he could get his mother off of his back. They were not supposed to be engaged, which he admitted was his own fault, and he wasn't supposed to have feelings for her.

He had known her for less than three weeks and he barely knew a thing about her, but what he did know was that he did too good a job at finding the perfect fake girlfriend. She really was everything he would actually look for; if he was seriously looking for a relationship. She was smart and funny. She was out spoken, but not rudely so.

She was occasionally spontaneous; her sudden desire to swim last night proved that. But she was also dependable. She wasn't a modern woman. She was traditional without being overly so. And her smile was actually able to capture his attention away from everything else. He forgot all of his problems when he was with her; as though the rest of the world ceased to exist.

But he wasn't looking for a relationship; didn't have time for one and neither did she. And no matter how much his feelings for her grew, when they returned home she would be gone from his life for good. It was what she no doubt wanted, what he was supposed to want. Things would get too complicated if they were to stay in touch after they broke up.

But no matter how much his logical side tried to tell him it did not make any sense and that he would only end up hurt in the end, it couldn't change his heart. Never in his life had he been so attracted to another person before. He had always found relationships to be a waste of time and energy.

He would rather keep his focus on work, but with her...Sesshoumaru realized he had not thought of work once in the entire time he was with her. Him, who always had work on his mind, completely forgot about it in her presence. This would not do, Sesshoumaru decided as he glanced back toward the door, that led to their shared bathroom, as though he would be able to see through it to her.

Feelings for her would only cause him problems as they were doomed to be unrequited. They only had a short time left together and he would see to it that they spent very little time together, and none alone, and hopefully that would be enough to get over his attraction to her and start moving on before they returned home.

Next time though, Sesshoumaru was just going to stay home when his parents invited him to something he didn't really want to attend. Not that he minded going to his brother's wedding; it was everything else that went with it that was more than he could handle. His mother's nagging about him having a date and asking a million questions about her.

His father's inability to understand that his life was his own and he was going to lead it as he saw fit. Even just being back in that house was a hassle. Back home he had the place all to himself, everything was where he wanted it to be and he never felt like he was a teenager again counting the days until he could leave the nest.

Deciding it was time to stop his mental rambling and get some sleep, Sesshoumaru climbed into bed and pulled the covers up to his chest; glancing toward the wall separating their rooms. Even as he closed his eyes, he knew he was not going to be getting much sleep with her so close and yet so far away.

...

The next day, Sesshoumaru was able to keep up with his plan to spend as little time with her as possible. Almost as if she knew of his plan, she had been keeping to herself all day; practically leaving the room whenever he entered.

She had done it so subtly, excusing herself to use the restroom or to get a drink and simply never coming back after he had been in the room for around five minutes, that Sesshoumaru never even noticed. His mother was another matter though. Perhaps it was female intuition, but she seemed to pick up on the rift between them.

"What did you do?" she questioned, catching Sesshoumaru off guard while he had been walking around the back yard. Seeing he didn't know what she was talking about, she asked again, "What did you do to Kagome-chan? Why is she mad at you?"

"Mother I have no idea what you are talking about. Kagome-san is not mad at me," Sesshoumaru insisted, annoyed his mother had to bring up the very person he was trying to not think about. He began walking around once more, expecting the conversation to be over, but wasn't very surprised when his mother followed after him.

"Take it from me, Sesshoumaru, she is mad at you. Or at least she is upset with you. She has not said two words to you all day and has barely looked at you. And she has not once looked at you the way she did before you announced your engagement yesterday. She is not still upset with you for breaking the news, is she?"

"Mother, you are reading into nothing. She is not upset with me for announcing our engagement or for anything else. And what do you mean the way she used to look at me? How was that?" Sesshoumaru asked as he stopped and turned back to her.

"Like a woman in love. Like I still find myself looking at your father. I have seen her watching you when you weren't looking and her feelings are as plain as day, but now? She doesn't hardly look at you and when she does, she seems almost sad. Whatever you did, you need to apologize.

"Whether you think you did anything wrong or not, apologize. There is no place for pride in a relationship. You will be hard pressed to find another girl as good as her if you lose her," she insisted, not letting him get a word in edgewise before continuing.

"I know, you can take her out tonight. A little wining and dining should make up for whatever you did; as long as it wasn't too bad, mind you. Take the car and go out somewhere fancy, where she can dress up and feel pampered. I'll let your father know it will just be us for dinner," she told him before heading inside before he could reject her suggestion.

Following after her to get the idea out of her mind before she could bring anyone else in on the crazy plan, he found himself already too late. Even as he walked back inside, he could hear her telling Kagome to go dress up since Sesshoumaru was taking her somewhere fancy. Unable to get out of it now, Sesshoumaru had turned toward her to give her an apologetic look when he noticed she was giving him one that almost seemed scared.

As quickly as it had appeared, it was gone and Sesshoumaru found himself wondering of he had imagined it. Deciding he would use their time out to make sure his mother really was seeing a problem that wasn't there, Sesshoumaru made his way upstairs to get changed.

It was not long before they were sitting in the car, him in a tailor made suit and her in a low cut evening gown that he was certain she did not pick out herself, and heading down the road to the restaurant. As much as he did not want to be going, dreading being alone with her for so long, he knew his mother had one point even if the rest was complete nonsense.

If they had really been dating, he would have taken her out for at least one night on the town while they were there. They should want to spend some time alone together, especially after getting engaged, and surely one night at the cabin would not be enough. He had simply not thought about that since they weren't really dating.

He had been so anxious to not spend that much time around her that he had let himself forget to keep up appearances. He would need to adjust his behavior for the short time they would still be there if he didn't want to blow their cover before they could leave. But it wouldn't be too hard, he merely needed to stop trying to force himself to not like her until they went home.

Knowing it was only a few days and he could manage, Sesshoumaru turned his attention back to the task at hand as the host led them to their table and he pulled out Kagome's chair for her. Her mumbled 'thank you' was barely heard and said more out of obligation than because she actually meant it and Sesshoumaru found himself wondering if perhaps his mother was correct.

Had he done something to upset or anger her without even realizing it himself? Was that the reason she had not spoken to him all day? Not because he himself had been keeping his distance? As he say down across from her, watching as she raised her menu without a word or a glance in his direction, Sesshoumaru decided it was time to get to the bottom of things.

"Kagome, have I done something to upset you? You have not spoken directly to me all day. You barely look at me. Even my mother noticed something was off and is why she insisted on this outing. I was certain she was imaging things and was going to say no to going out, but she spoke to you before I could. But now, I am starting to wonder if she had been correct," Sesshoumaru admitted, startling her.

In truth, she had been avoiding him for the very reason he had been avoiding her, but it wasn't like she could just tell him she was trying to stop being attracted to him. She had hoped he hasn't noticed her distance, but it seemed her prayers went unanswered. Doing her best to put on a real smile, Kagome assured him, "No Sesshoumaru, I am not upset with you.

"Or anyone for that matter. It has simply taken more energy out of me to keep up the illusion of us and I am worn out. Actually, I was thinking of spending some time at my family's shrine. I should spend more time with them while I'm here anyways and it will give both of us a break from keeping up appearances.

"If you wouldn't mind, could you drop me off after dinner?" Honestly she had just come up with the suggestion on the spot, but she couldn't figure out why she hadn't thought about it sooner. What better way to be able to avoid him for a long time than to be staying in two different places.

Though he hated the idea of them not at least being in the same house for the remainder of their time together, Sesshoumaru could see how worn out she was and felt bad that he had added to her problems. Things would have been just fine if he never opened his mouth about an engagement, but at the same time, he found he only regretted for her sake.

In his mind, he actually liked the idea of them being engaged, but he would simply add it to the list of things he needed to get over. Even of there had ever been the chance for their relationship to turn into something real, he had obviously ruined that by making things that much harder on her.

Realizing she was still waiting for an answer, Sesshoumaru smiled reassuringly. "I would be happy to. It is probably a good idea. Hopefully our parents will be less inclined to ask about our relationship and wedding plans if we are both not there." As the waiter approached and took their drink orders, Kagome went back to not looking at him, but he simply chalked it up to her being tired and thought nothing more of it.

But in all honestly, Kagome couldn't look at him right then. She found his tailored suit and fancier than normal look was more than she could handle. Sesshoumaru looked so handsome that night that she was afraid she wouldn't be able to resist the urge to kiss him if she looked at him too long.

It seemed, the more she began to realize her feelings for him, the more she noticed previously overlooked things about him. The way his golden eyes seemed to sparkle in the light; especially when said light was from a fire or candle. The way even the slightest of smiles was able to make him look even more handsome and leave her breathless.

The way she could still feel his lips pressed against here every time he spoke and she watched his lips move. And the way just the sound of his voice made her heart beat faster and made her feel things she had never really felt before. Even without the experience, she knew what such feelings represented, but she wasn't ready to acknowledge them when their relationship was fake.

It would only make leaving him that much harder when the time came and Kagome couldn't bear to make it any harder on herself. She wasn't sure she would be able to leave him if she did and didn't want to earn his ire by hanging around him long after he was ready to be done with her.

And so the two sat there in silence through out their entire dinner; both emotionally drained by the time the check arrived and was paid. Both wanting desperately to be as far away from the other as possible and yet wanting to be as close as they could. As he dropped her off in front of the steps to her family's shrine, certain she had old clothes there that she could wear, he informed her, "I will pick you up in two days around noon. We will head directly to the airport from there."

Nodding her head instead of answering, Kagome climbed out and quickly made her way up the steps; disappearing inside once she has reached the top. Making her way toward the kitchen, she explained why she was there to her mother and stayed up late into the night talking to her.

When she finally left her and went upstairs to her room, Kagome cried herself to sleep. The day had simply been too much for her. Between the fake engagement and the fact that he was sleeping just on the other side of the wall caused Kagome to dream about him. Only in the dream, the engagement was real.

Their relationship was real. And then she woke up and reality came crashing down on her and just when she was finally starting to get her emotions under control, he brings her out to a fancy, 'romantic' dinner. It was all just too much and if she was honest with herself, she was surprised she didn't just break down in front of him.

At the same time Kagome was entering the main house at the shrine earlier that night, Sesshoumaru headed off down the road once he could no longer see her. The trip back to his parents' house was as quiet as the trip to hers, but he actually felt less alone than when she had been in the car.

He didn't understand what had happened. Obviously something was wrong, something went wrong, but she refused to tell him what it was. They had an odd relationship for certain, but they had at least been friends; or at least well on their way to becoming. But now she was treating him like he used to treat those around him that he either did not know or did not like; as though he doesn't exist.

While he couldn't blame her if she was mad at him for saying they were engaged, he couldn't imagine that was enough to make her almost seem to hate him. But that was the only thing he could think of with her behavior; she refused to look him in the eye when they were speaking, said maybe a dozen words to him all day and she acted as though she could not wait to get as far away from him as possible.

But as Sesshoumaru pulled into the driveway, another thought crossed his mind. Had she realized he had feelings for her and was annoyed by it? Was she so turned off by the thought of actually dating him that she would rather stay over at her mother's than be near him?

He knew there was nothing wrong with spending some time visiting her family, but they would no doubt ask her a million questions about the engagement as well so of she just wanted to get away from the inquiring minds, he could have just taken her back to the cabin. No if she was willing to put up with her mother's questions, which would no doubt be more personal since she could talk freely with her own daughter, it had to be him she was wanting to get away from.

For the first time Sesshoumaru found himself grateful that she would be away from him for the rest of their time there and that their time together was almost up. He didn't think he could handle to be around her, liking her when she hated him. It would be too painful. It was bad enough when your feelings were simply unrequited, but to have the person you like actually hate you and find your feelings for them annoying at the very least would be unbearable to be around.

Deciding he might as well get things over with, Sesshoumaru finally headed inside; dreading the conversation with his mother when she realized he was alone. Unsurprisingly, she had waited up for him to return and was standing just inside the front door. Figuring she had heard his car pull up, Sesshoumaru wasn't going to pay her any mind until he saw the worried expression on her face.

"Whatever you are thinking, mother, it is not it. Her odd behavior today had nothing to do with me. She had simply realized how much she has missed her own mother with the visit yesterday. She is going to be spending the last couple of days with her own family. Now I am tired and I am going to bed. Goodnight mother," Sesshoumaru bid her, kissing her cheek before heading upstairs before she could respond.

With each step, it became clear to Sesshoumaru that, while he might have hated every time he had to lie to his parents before, this time it actually hurt. He was the reason she was not here; his unwanted feelings kept her away.

As Sesshoumaru climbed into bed, he found himself wishing he wouldn't wake up in the morning. It would be far better if he was able to sleep so long he missed his flight and had to take another one. That way, he would never see her again.

...

The day they were supposed to leave, the two met up at the airport; as he had gathered up all of her things so she wouldn't have to return. If he could, Sesshoumaru would have gotten their seats moved so she wouldn't be forced to sit next to him, but the flight was full. He checked.

After biding their families farewell at the gate, the two made their way further into the airport to wait for their plane to board. As Kagome took a seat, with plenty of open ones around her, she couldn't help but notice how he purposely chose to sit many seats over. It was enough to convince her that something was wrong.

At first she thought his silent, completely distant behavior was because he was upset with her for suddenly wanting to stay at the shrine. Thinking perhaps he had to cover for her if his mother still thought something was wrong. But now she was certain there was more to it than that.

Unless his mother had discovered their lie, which she obviously hadn't since she told Kagome she hoped they had their wedding there, she couldn't imagine that would be enough to cause this much of a problem with him. 'Unless...,' Kagome began to think, 'he knows.' glancing over at him and catching him quickly looking away, Kagome realized she was right.

He had figured out that she had feelings for him and he was so annoyed with her that he had chosen to not even speak to her in the little time left that they would see each other. Kagome found such a thing to be appalling. He didn't have to return her feelings, honestly she hadn't expected him to, but to be so turned off by the thought of her liking him that he behaved the way he did?

Maybe she wasn't his type, but it wasn't like she wouldn't be somebody's. She was a decent enough catch; nice enough to look at, came from a good family, had traditional values. He would be lucky to find someone like her. It wasn't as though she was full of herself or anything, but she had seen enough to know there were far worse women out there than she was.

Hearing the call for their plane to start boarding, Kagome grabbed her stuff and began heading toward the line; not bothering to make sure Sesshoumaru was coming or had even heard the announcement. If he was going to be so rude to her, she saw no reason not to do the same.

It wasn't long before she was making her way onto the plane and taking her seat after putting her bag in the overhead. Though she heard Sesshoumaru's offer to do it for her, as he had on the ride there, she pretended she hadn't. Resting back in her seat, Kagome buckled in and closed her eyes.

Knowing it would be a while still before they took off, she was hoping to be able to fall asleep beforehand so she wouldn't have to deal with him the entire trip. Sesshoumaru seemed to have other ideas as the moment he was buckled in he started speaking, "Have I done something to offend you?"

Startled by his confusion, Kagome opened her eyes and could only stare at him for a few moments. Seeing the slight look of concern in his eyes, Kagome realized he truly be unaware of why she was mad at him. Had she imagined the slight?

Had he simply been giving himself more room to stretch out? Was his mind on other things and that was why he was silent? Deciding to give him the benefit of the doubt, Kagome finally smiled and shook her head. "No, I'm just a bit out of it. I didn't get much sleep last night."

"I see," Sesshoumaru replied, a bit disappointed by her response. He had finally gotten up the courage to ask her, something he had been working on since they were driving here, figuring that neither of them would cause a scene on an airplane and it might be his only chance to confirm his suspicions about her sudden distance.

But it would seem to him that she was not ready to admit she was avoiding him because she figured out he had feelings for her. He would just have to wait for another opportunity to ask her as the flight attendant was already starting their how to announcement.

As he rested back in his seat, content to drown out the voice as he already knew what she would say, he was surprised to find Kagome staring so intently at her; hanging on every word she said. Simply sitting there watching her right then, Sesshoumaru couldn't believe he had ever thought she would merely be good enough for that moment. She was perfect for him, but apparently she didn't agree.

Deciding he needed to get her off of his mind before she drove him crazy, Sesshoumaru closed his eyes and tuned out the noise around him. Without realizing it, he soon fell asleep; completely missing the plane taking off from the runway. It wasn't until the plane began to shake with a bit of turbulence sometime later that he was roused from his nap.

Feeling a strong grip on his fingers suddenly, he opened his eyes and glanced down to find Kagome holding his hand with one of her own while the other gripped her arm rest so tightly her knuckles had turned white. Apparently realizing what she was doing, Kagome went to pull her hand away, but Sesshoumaru tightened his grip before he could even realize what he was doing.

For a long moment, he could only stare at her in silence and wonder if he had made the right decision. As the plane began shaking once more from the turbulence, and Kagome's eyes began to give away her mounting fear, Sesshoumaru thought about what his regrets would be if this plane was to crash; not that he really thought there was any chance of that.

He would regret that the last time he saw his parents he was anxious to get away from them. That he would never get to see the woman his little sister would one day grow up to become. That his entire life had been about work. And more than anything, though perhaps simply because she was the one there at the moment, he would regret never telling her how he felt.

He was not a coward, but over the last few days, he had begun to feel like he was. Taking a deep breath and squeezing her fingers once more to make sure he had her attention, Sesshoumaru began, "You might hate me for saying this, but it can not go unsaid any longer."

...

Five years had passed since the trip back to Japan and Sesshoumaru couldn't believe he was finally stepping over the threshold into his ancestral home. For the first time since the property was moved into his name. "You can stop now you know," a woman's voice called out startling him.

"It's tradition," he insisted, as he smiled at her before glancing around at his new home. The woman waited a few moments patiently before sighing; getting his attention once more.

"It's not even a Japanese custom and we are over the threshold already. You can put me down now," she insisted in a slightly annoyed, yet playful tone.

"Very well, if you insist wife," Sesshoumaru told her with a smirk even as he set her down on her feet in front of the living room fireplace. "So what do you think of our new home?" he questioned as he watched her look around before wrapping his arms around her waist and resting his chin on top of her head.

"It's beautiful, Sesshoumaru, just like you always described it. I'm just happy your father kept his word and gave it to you once we were married. I don't think you could fake going into the Diet," she joked as she rested back against his chest.

"It is made even more beautiful with your presence, Kagome and I am done with faking. I am just happy our engagement turned out to be not so fake after all. Life would not be the same, all of this would seem empty without you," Sesshoumaru insisted before turning her around and gently pressing his lips against hers; sharing their first of many kisses in their new home.


End file.
